Petri Hawkins Byrd, otherwise known as ‘Officer Byrd’ from the TV court show, Judge Judy, was born Petri Adonis Byrd in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. (He changed the ‘Adonis’ to his mother’s maiden name, ‘Hawkins’ because “I didn’t want people to think I made it up.”).

Byrd - as he’s known to friends and fans alike-, graduated from Eastern District High School, in Brooklyn and attended Hostos Community College, in the Bronx. In 1986, after being transferred from Brooklyn Family Court to Manhattan Family Court, Byrd met is future TV boss, Judge Judith Sheindlin. In 1989, Byrd received his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from John Jay College. (“Some folks graduated ‘magna cum laude’. I graduated ‘Thank you, Lordy”’! )... more

President & CEO
Donald Northcross

Did you know that African American males are approximately 6% of the nation's population while comprising approximately 50% of the nations prison population? Although these statistics are alarming and unacceptable, people still ask me... more