Camelia M. Valdes is the First Latina County Prosecutor in the State of New Jersey, the First Woman Prosecutor in Passaic County, and the First Lead Prosecutor of Dominican ancestry in the United States. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and a member of Pi Xi Omega Chapter.
Below you will find the pictures from her Swearing-in Ceremony August 20, 2009. The most recent photo is Governor Chris Christie signing Executive Order No. 33 with New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow, Division of Criminal Justice Director Stephen Taylor, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. on Friday, July 16, 2010. Executive Order No. 33 establishes a County Prosecutor Study Commission to examine the feasibility of modifying the State’s county prosecutor system towards greater efficiency and savings for taxpayers,. (Governor's Office/Tim Larsen)
Below you will find the pictures from her Swearing-in Ceremony August 20, 2009. The most recent photo is Governor Chris Christie signing Executive Order No. 33 with New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow, Division of Criminal Justice Director Stephen Taylor, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. on Friday, July 16, 2010. Executive Order No. 33 establishes a County Prosecutor Study Commission to examine the feasibility of modifying the State’s county prosecutor system towards greater efficiency and savings for taxpayers,. (Governor's Office/Tim Larsen)
Click on the pictures to enlarge:
Click on the links below to learn more about Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, (affectionately known to many as Nancy Valdes):
univisionnuevayork.univision.com/videos/video/2012-11-15/mujer-queria-pagar-por-que-mataran-esposo
http://newjersey.news12.com/multimedia/paterson-man-accused-of-fatally-stabbing-ex-1.4361400
Click here: Police: NJ man shot wife, self on Christmas | The Asbury Park Press NJ | app.com
http://univisionnuevayork.univision.com/videos/video/2012-12-26/homicidio-suicidio-en-paterson-nj
www.pcponj.org/administration.html
www.northjersey.com/photos/090821_DA_0955.html
More articles:
Woodland Park
univisionnuevayork.univision.com/videos/video/2012-11-15/mujer-queria-pagar-por-que-mataran-esposo
http://newjersey.news12.com/multimedia/paterson-man-accused-of-fatally-stabbing-ex-1.4361400
Click here: Police: NJ man shot wife, self on Christmas | The Asbury Park Press NJ | app.com
http://univisionnuevayork.univision.com/videos/video/2012-12-26/homicidio-suicidio-en-paterson-nj
www.pcponj.org/administration.html
www.northjersey.com/photos/090821_DA_0955.html
More articles:
Woodland Park
Archived from December 2012
News
Rutgers Law Graduate Racking Up Firsts in Criminal Justice
Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, first Hispanic woman in post, takes aim against violence
By Fredda Sacharow
Credit: Courtesy of Camelia M. Valdes
From her office, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes oversees 200 employees and a budget of $17.5 million.
Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes encounters more than the average share of high-visibility violence in her line of work: robberies, shootings and homicides, including one involving a Newark police officer slain in Paterson.
But nothing haunts the Class of 1996 Rutgers-Newark Law School graduate as much as crimes against children.
“Even more disturbing are human trafficking crimes involving children where you see the things people do to vulnerable victims for profit,” Valdes says. “I’ve been a prosecutor just about my entire career, but every now and then you hear facts about a case that are mind-blowing.”
In a previous job at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Valdes and her co-counsels prosecuted 10 people in a smuggling ring operating in the United States and Honduras. Undocumented women from Honduras, some as young as 14, were brought to this country, forced to work in bars in Hudson County to pay off smuggling debts as high as $20,000.
The victims endured emotional, sexual and physical abuse, coupled with threats of deportation and harm to family members back home. The case against the traffickers was successfully prosecuted and furthered fueled Valdes’ desire to advocate for crime victims, she says.
Valdes spends her professional days – and many of her nights – trying to hold back the tide against such violence. She’s been doing it since graduating from Rutgers, whether as municipal prosecutor in Newark, as a deputy attorney general in the state’s Division of Criminal Justice, or as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Federal District of New Jersey.
Along the way she served as an assistant counsel in the Governor’s Counsel’s Office under Christine Todd Whitman and Acting Governor Donald T. Di Francesco, and she worked for and became friends with another former U.S. attorney who’s made a name for himself: Chris Christie. Former Gov. Jon S. Corzine appointed her the top law-enforcement official in Passaic in May 2009.
Valdes, now 41, has racked up a couple of “firsts” in this latest post – first Latina county prosecutor in the state, first woman prosecutor in Passaic County, first lead prosecutor of Dominican ancestry in the United States – and one of the youngest county prosecutors in the state.
Valdes oversees 200 employees and an office budget of $17.5 million. She is involved in reviewing cases, conferring regularly with the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department and police chiefs of the 16 Passaic County municipalities as well as the chiefs of police of William Paterson and Montclair universities. She also works with community partners such as WAFA House in Clifton, which assists domestic violence victims of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent.
“Suppression of violence is something my administration actively works on every day,” Valdes says. “The issues of domestic violence affect not only the couple involved, but also their children. The effect of family violence ripples out to the whole community.”
This Bronx-born daughter of immigrant parents was the first in her family to attend college, majoring in sociology and criminal justice at Seton Hall. As a special-needs mother of two autistic daughters, Isabela, 8, and Elsa, 6, Valdes says her role of advocate permeates every area of her life.
“I live in Wayne now, but I grew up in Newark and am grateful for the grit and sense of urgency being from Newark instilled in me,” she says.” I lived in an apartment building full of immigrant families, spending my time translating documents and interpreting American life for them. I was surrounded by violence -- that was part of our lives -- but also by hard-working people who wanted better opportunities for their children. So I grew up wanting to advocate for my neighbors when they couldn’t advocate for themselves.”
Valdes says her time at Rutgers Law School provided a solid foundation for her success, in particular admission into the Minority Student Program (MSP), which provides academic support, mentoring and internships to students from lower-income families
“So many of my classmates who are MSP alumni have gone on to become prominent members of the New Jersey legal community who contribute to the state in important ways,” she says, mentioning Jennifer Velez, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services; and Mirtha Ospina, Hudson County Superior Court judge among others. “The Class of 1996 was an amazing group of students who continue to support, counsel and advise me on professional and personal matters.”
Valdes’ ethnic heritage plays a vital role in her life. She was chosen to deliver the keynote address at a statewide conference of the American Conference on Diversity in Higher Education, has served as president of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, and frequently speaks about the value of diversity in the legal profession and elsewhere.
Her advocacy has brought her prominence, both national and international. In October 2011, Hispanic Business Magazine named Valdes one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States. Two months later, Leonel Fernandez, president of the Dominican Republic, named her one of the 100 Most Influential Dominicans Living Abroad.
Your Source for University News
New Brunswick, NJ (September 26, 2012) – The American Conference on Diversity celebrates Hispanic Heritage month with the announcement of Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes as keynote speaker at the 12th Annual Statewide Conference on Diversity Issues in Higher Education.
News
Rutgers Law Graduate Racking Up Firsts in Criminal Justice
Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, first Hispanic woman in post, takes aim against violence
By Fredda Sacharow
Credit: Courtesy of Camelia M. Valdes
From her office, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes oversees 200 employees and a budget of $17.5 million.
Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes encounters more than the average share of high-visibility violence in her line of work: robberies, shootings and homicides, including one involving a Newark police officer slain in Paterson.
But nothing haunts the Class of 1996 Rutgers-Newark Law School graduate as much as crimes against children.
“Even more disturbing are human trafficking crimes involving children where you see the things people do to vulnerable victims for profit,” Valdes says. “I’ve been a prosecutor just about my entire career, but every now and then you hear facts about a case that are mind-blowing.”
In a previous job at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Valdes and her co-counsels prosecuted 10 people in a smuggling ring operating in the United States and Honduras. Undocumented women from Honduras, some as young as 14, were brought to this country, forced to work in bars in Hudson County to pay off smuggling debts as high as $20,000.
The victims endured emotional, sexual and physical abuse, coupled with threats of deportation and harm to family members back home. The case against the traffickers was successfully prosecuted and furthered fueled Valdes’ desire to advocate for crime victims, she says.
Valdes spends her professional days – and many of her nights – trying to hold back the tide against such violence. She’s been doing it since graduating from Rutgers, whether as municipal prosecutor in Newark, as a deputy attorney general in the state’s Division of Criminal Justice, or as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Federal District of New Jersey.
Along the way she served as an assistant counsel in the Governor’s Counsel’s Office under Christine Todd Whitman and Acting Governor Donald T. Di Francesco, and she worked for and became friends with another former U.S. attorney who’s made a name for himself: Chris Christie. Former Gov. Jon S. Corzine appointed her the top law-enforcement official in Passaic in May 2009.
Valdes, now 41, has racked up a couple of “firsts” in this latest post – first Latina county prosecutor in the state, first woman prosecutor in Passaic County, first lead prosecutor of Dominican ancestry in the United States – and one of the youngest county prosecutors in the state.
Valdes oversees 200 employees and an office budget of $17.5 million. She is involved in reviewing cases, conferring regularly with the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department and police chiefs of the 16 Passaic County municipalities as well as the chiefs of police of William Paterson and Montclair universities. She also works with community partners such as WAFA House in Clifton, which assists domestic violence victims of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent.
“Suppression of violence is something my administration actively works on every day,” Valdes says. “The issues of domestic violence affect not only the couple involved, but also their children. The effect of family violence ripples out to the whole community.”
This Bronx-born daughter of immigrant parents was the first in her family to attend college, majoring in sociology and criminal justice at Seton Hall. As a special-needs mother of two autistic daughters, Isabela, 8, and Elsa, 6, Valdes says her role of advocate permeates every area of her life.
“I live in Wayne now, but I grew up in Newark and am grateful for the grit and sense of urgency being from Newark instilled in me,” she says.” I lived in an apartment building full of immigrant families, spending my time translating documents and interpreting American life for them. I was surrounded by violence -- that was part of our lives -- but also by hard-working people who wanted better opportunities for their children. So I grew up wanting to advocate for my neighbors when they couldn’t advocate for themselves.”
Valdes says her time at Rutgers Law School provided a solid foundation for her success, in particular admission into the Minority Student Program (MSP), which provides academic support, mentoring and internships to students from lower-income families
“So many of my classmates who are MSP alumni have gone on to become prominent members of the New Jersey legal community who contribute to the state in important ways,” she says, mentioning Jennifer Velez, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services; and Mirtha Ospina, Hudson County Superior Court judge among others. “The Class of 1996 was an amazing group of students who continue to support, counsel and advise me on professional and personal matters.”
Valdes’ ethnic heritage plays a vital role in her life. She was chosen to deliver the keynote address at a statewide conference of the American Conference on Diversity in Higher Education, has served as president of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, and frequently speaks about the value of diversity in the legal profession and elsewhere.
Her advocacy has brought her prominence, both national and international. In October 2011, Hispanic Business Magazine named Valdes one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States. Two months later, Leonel Fernandez, president of the Dominican Republic, named her one of the 100 Most Influential Dominicans Living Abroad.
Your Source for University News
New Brunswick, NJ (September 26, 2012) – The American Conference on Diversity celebrates Hispanic Heritage month with the announcement of Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes as keynote speaker at the 12th Annual Statewide Conference on Diversity Issues in Higher Education.