At Police Week ceremonies at St. Lucy’s Church on May 25th, Mayor Ras Baraka (7th from left) and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose (5th from right) present the Law Enforcement Partnership Award to Sheriff Armando Fontoura (6th from left).  Working independently within the City of Newark during 2016, the Essex County Sheriff’s Office made nearly 1,500 arrests, recovered 68 high-capacity handguns and seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal narcotics.  During that same period, the sheriff’s Bomb Squad and K-9 Unit responded to 347 requests to search for fugitives, explosives, weapons and drugs.  The sheriff’s Office of Emergency Management also provided Newark students with 144,000 pints of water during the city’s Schools Water Emergency.