NEWTON, NJ - The Newton Rotary Club continues its weekly speaker program highlighting local community leaders. A recent program featured Sussex County Sheriff Michael Strada.

The Sheriff discussed an overview of operations at the County Correctional Jail as well as the Sheriff’s Dept. Currently there are about 145 inmates, but this total changes daily. Of the current total 26 are women. In addition, six persons were on the home release program. Home release allows some low level offenders to continue working and living at home although monitored by various methods.

Images of the jail as well as several of the cells were shown. The facility has a full time professional cook assisted by 6-8 inmates. Details were also given about the SLAP and SWAP prisoner assistant programs. The SLAP program supplies labor assistance to local nonprofit and government entities. SWAP provides similar assistance but is for sentenced inmates to work outside the jail during the day.

A spirited Q&A session followed the presentation which included many of the members.

Sheriff Strada  served in the military during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Following an honorable discharge he began a career in law enforcement. He served in the Morris County Sheriff’s Dept. and then Mt Olive Police Dept. before being elected as Sheriff.

Strada has  BA and Masters degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University as well as attendance at several FBI and other police conferences.

Future speakers, in this series include Kevin Daly of Bristol Glen and Joe DiPaolo  of Newton Medical Center. A complete list of future speakers may be found at www.newtonrotary.org

Newton Rotary has been in the community since 1923 and holds weekly luncheons and programs on Wednesdays. Meetings are held  at The Lafayette House at 12:15. Current membership is over 100 and includes a wide cross section of men and women.