Berks County DA John Adams Elected President to the PA District Attorneys Institute
Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute (PDAI) announced its newly elected officers for the 2019–2020 business year. The election took place during the institution’s annual business meeting. The new officers are:
President: Hon. John T. Adams, Berks County District Attorney
Vice President: Hon. Richard Goldinger, Butler County District Attorney
Secretary/Treasurer: Hon. Raymond Tonkin, Pike County District Attorney
PDAI is the educational and training arm of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association (PDAA).
“The pipeline of high-quality education and training programs provided by the PDAI help district attorneys, law enforcement, and victim services counselors throughout the state keep up-to-date on best practices and legal developments,” said Adams. “This leadership team is committed to providing our members with trainings on timely topics and issues that in return, will help them best serve their communities.”
Mr. Adams has been involved with the criminal justice system for over 30 years through his service as a probation officer, assistant district attorney, defense attorney and now district attorney. He was elected District Attorney of Berks County in 2007 and reelected in 2011 and 2015. In this role, he supervises a staff of 30 attorneys, 33 detectives, 24 support staff and 2 analysts. Since assuming the role of District Attorney, Adams has built connections between municipal and state police departments and the county at large through several collaborative task forces addressing issues related to drugs and major crimes. Adams has specifically focused on the opioid crisis by leading education initiatives in the county.
The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute was founded in 1983 for the purpose of developing and providing educational materials and training seminars for District Attorneys. In addition to providing training and materials to District Attorneys and their staffs, the Institute also conducts child abuse investigation courses, case law updates and other training courses for Pennsylvania’s law enforcement officials and administers programs to provide training to victim service professionals. For more information about the Institute and its offerings, click here.
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Contact: Lindsay Vaughan, Director of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute lvaughan@pdaa.org or (717) 238-5416.