EL PASO, TX—Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey R. Downey announced Monica Tucker, founder of the Black Roundtable and Black El Paso Voice has been selected for the 2022 Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA) for the FBI El Paso Field Office. Mrs. Tucker was chosen based on her development of multiple forums to provide information and updates featuring Black citizens, organizations, and events in the El Paso area as a means to provide the Black American community awareness about issues that affect Black/Black Multi-racial men, women, and families in El Paso, Texas, and throughout the nation.

Since 1990, the Director’s Community Leadership Awards have been the principal means for the FBI to publicly recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations that make extraordinary contributions to education and the prevention of crime and violence in their communities. Each field office nominates an individual or organization for the award, and the recipients are invited to a ceremony and reception at FBI Headquarters in May. This year will be the first year since 2019 the ceremony will be held in person due to the pandemic.

Through her forum and connectivity with the community, Mrs. Tucker has supported the mission at the FBI El Paso Field Office since 2017. FBI El Paso and Mrs. Tucker have worked on numerous projects together to include the First Fridays with the FBI podcast, the African American Community Leader Roundtable, and FBI’s 100th Anniversary of the African American Special Agent, where Mrs. Tucker and FBI El Paso interviewed 29 African American FBI special agents and featured each agent daily during the month of February (Black History) Month to discuss their motivation for becoming an agent, thus highlighting a more personal look at agents and the diversity within the FBI.

“Mrs. Tucker’s passion to amplify crime prevention and awareness programs helps communities build a better relationship with law enforcement entities to dispel myths, tackle adversity, and move forward to help protect vulnerable members of under-represented communities,” said SAC Downey. “The FBI is proud to honor Mrs. Tucker’s leadership and service with the designation as the FBI El Paso’s 2022 DCLA recipient.”

Most recently, Mrs. Tucker and SAC Jeffrey Downey collaborated to develop an African American community leader roundtable, where members of the Black community could come together with the FBI to build trust by absolving wrongs, dispelling myths, and fostering transparent relationships, therefore providing a very open and honest look at how the FBI operates.

In short, Mrs. Tucker’s extraordinary contributions have helped to bridge the historical gap between the Black community and law enforcement. It is through her hard work and dedication that a deeper and stronger understanding has developed between FBI El Paso and the community it serves.