2019 Riverside School District
Alumnus of the Year Award
Presented to
Louis J. Fisher, Jr.
Class of 1981
A 1981 graduate of Riverside High School,
Lou Fisher was a member of the playoff-bound football team, as well as the
wrestling and track teams, and the DECA Club that ran the school store. Following
graduation, he went to work for his father in the commercial dry-cleaning and
laundry business, first as a supervisor for the company that serviced the
Atlantic City casinos. In 1985 he left to become a general manager of a family-owned
dry-cleaning company, helping them grow from three to 13 locations in less than
five years. In 1990 he
started his own dry-cleaning business with no capital but the help of his
retired father. In just two years
Marathon Cleaners in Mt. Ephraim would employ over 75 and have annual sales
over 2 million dollars. He also added
locations in Riverside, Medford, Westmont, and Delran. Deciding on a
career change, in 1998 he sold the last of his locations and joined the
Riverside Police Department. While on
patrol he focused predominantly on narcotics, DWI, and other criminal activity.
He was awarded numerous citations,
including M.A.D.D. recognition. Then-PTL Fisher was promoted to Detective in 2004
and then to Lieutenant in 2005. His
current duties consist of detective services, gang intelligence, narcotics,
grant writing, and administration. In 2007 Lieutenant Fisher was named Riverside
Police Officer of the Year, and he received the Exceptional Duty Award for his
work as an instructor at the Police Academy and for investigative
accomplishments. Lieutenant Fisher has
earned several commendations for exemplary performance relating to cases
involving gangs, illegal drug distribution, weapon possession, and successful grant
projects.
In 2014 he was among the first to recognize the oncoming opioid
epidemic. As founder and CEO of the
nonprofit New Jersey Treatment Incentive Program (NJTIP), he has helped identify
and direct addicted individuals who commit nonviolent offenses into long-term
treatment in lieu of incarceration. Since the program’s inception, Lieutenant
Fisher has helped hundreds get into treatment, thereby reducing theft-related crime
by more than 80 per cent in Riverside. NJTIP is directly responsible for making
Riverside one of the safest communities in Burlington County, as reported by
the NJ State Police uniform crime report.
He has also completed 22 marathons, including the Boston Marathon twice.
