Alumna and Assistant Superintendent of Allegheny County Police Maurita Bryant Honored by Criminal Justice Club Thursday, April 26, 2018
Alumna Maurita Bryant ’06 ’07 was honored with the Certificate of Excellence in Law Enforcement Leadership Award April 17 by Point Park University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Intelligence Studies and Criminal Justice Club.
“As both an undergraduate and graduate alumna of Point Park, Maurita Bryant is the perfect choice of recipient. She has served as both assistant chief of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and assistant superintendent of Allegheny County Police, as well as president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE),” explained Sean Elliot Martin, Ph.D., criminal justice and intelligence studies lecturer.
Martin added: “But more than that — as so many guests pointed out — her spirit, kindness and commitment to the community are the main factors that make her stand out.”
Surrounded by family, friends, professors and co-workers from both the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Allegheny County Police Department, Bryant was presented with her award by Pittsburgh Police Chief and Alumnus Scott Schubert ’01 ’10.
Freshman criminal justice major Noelle Watcher from Bethel Park High School in Bethel Park, Pa., said: “Chief Bryant is a remarkable woman who has played a big role in law enforcement. She has inspired me by the way she cares about her community and officers. You don’t’ find many people who have heart like she does.”
“One of the things that really stuck out to me in Chief Bryant’s speech was when she said, ‘It is not about the title, but all of the things you do with the title.’ I was really moved by this section of her speech,” added a junior intelligence and national security major at Point Park. (Due to the nature of the intelligence field, the identities of students in this particular program are often protected).
In an interview after the award ceremony, Bryant described the experience of being honored at Point Park as amazing and told the following story:
“My great-granddaughter asked her mother why they were honoring me and her mother told her it was because I graduated from Point Park and that I have inspired a lot of people and love my job. When I heard that conversation and reflected on how much the students, who are future leaders in law enforcement from my alma mater recognized me, it melted by heart and made me realize I do make a difference,” she said.
Renad Albugami, a native of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and junior criminal justice major from Chartiers Valley High School in Bridgeville, Pa., said: “It was great, as well as inspiring, to hear about Chief Bryant’s trials and tribulations that brought her to her position. I was also impressed to hear she is a two-time alum of Point Park.”
Albugami added: “I aspire to be the best person I can be within my field of study. Point Park is helping me to reach my career goals by providing me with resources and education from very knowledgeable faculty who have worked in the field.”
Photos by Nick Koehler, sophomore photojournalism major