Peace Islands Institute · Signature Event
Public Safety Appreciation Dinner
An evening of thanks for the police officers, firefighters, EMTs, federal agents, prosecutors and community partners who keep New Jersey safe. The series began in 2011 as the Interfaith Dialog Center’s Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner.
Roll call · 2011 to today
Every dinner in our archive
Choose a year to see who was honored, who spoke, and the photos, videos and stories from that evening.
Dinner on recordNo dinner on recordNumber badge = honorees on record
How the dinners are numbered: the dinner planned for April 2020 was billed as the 10th, counting each year since the first dinner in 2011. The COVID-19 pandemic postponed it, and the 10th dinner was held on March 29, 2022. Each dinner since then has added one to the count.
Why we gather
The dinner honors first responders across fire, police and EMS, and thanks the public servants who work in homeland security and public safety. It is also a place for people from different departments, faith communities and neighborhoods to meet, renew old relationships and start new ones.
The evening
- Reception and networking
- Color guard, pipes and drums, and the National Anthem
- A moment of silence for fallen public heroes
- Welcome, keynote and guest remarks
- Dinner and the awards ceremony
- Group photos with the honorees
Who we have honored
Counts cover the years with honoree lists in our archive.
Help us tell the whole story
Some early years are still missing from the archive. If you have a program, photo, video or news clipping from a past dinner, please send it to infonj@peaceislands.org