DBT40 Honoree: James Spadola of the Newark Police Department

Photo by Ron Dubick

AGE: 33
TITLE: Police officer, musician, state Senate candidate
COMPANY: Newark Police Department
CITY: Newark

What the nominator said: “James Spadola can’t help but lead. He just enjoys people and, due to his charismatic personality, others just want to be part of his world. He is a motivator who takes opportunities and finds a way to get others to join him to create movements (as he did with his Hug A Cop program). He is an honored serviceman, reputable police officer, and doesn’t stop working toward making a real impact.”

Social media platform you can’t live without: Facebook, because life is more than 140 characters.

Your biggest break: Breaking into the music business. Playing the guitar semi-professionally is an absolute dream come true and has taught me a lot about sales and social media.  Also, the success of the #HugACop video has been great, too.

Best career advice you ever got:  This quote, from Steve Jobs: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Two words that best describe you: Anti-status quo.

If you were in charge of Delaware: Totally reforming our approach to drug addiction. We need to shift resources to prevention and treatment and away from incarceration.