The Security Industry Association (SIA), members of the security industry and the InterPort Police-International Association of Airport & Seaport Police gathered Wednesday night in New York City to honor two deserving individuals for their security-related achievements.

At the annual Security Week Gala, the Security Industry Association (SIA) presented the George R. Lippert Memorial Award to Tri-Ed/Northern Video CEO Steven Roth. The InterPort Police-International Association of Airport & Seaport Police presented the Fred V. Morrone Memorial 9/11 Award to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Janet Napolitano.

Steven Roth was unanimously selected as the 2011 Lippert Award winner by a panel of past award recipients. While working for Ademco in the 1970s, Roth was tasked with developing ADI, which subsequently became the largest security products distributor in the world. When ADI’s parent company was purchased by Honeywell International in 2000, Roth was promoted to president of the Security Group. A few years later, Roth led a team of investors in the acquisition of Tri-Ed Distribution from Tyco International in 2005, and in 2010 was instrumental in the merger of Tri-Ed and Northern Video Systems. He is now CEO of the combined entity.

In accepting the Lippert award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to SIA and the security industry, Roth said, “The good part of all this is, I've been very fortunate to be part of an industry that's been transformed by both technology and very talented people.”

Last year’s Lippert award winner, Leo Guthart, chairman of the Board of Directors of Topspin Partners, commented: “Steve Roth made an indelible mark on the industry.”

The Morrone award is named for the late superintendent of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, the highest-ranking of 37 Port Authority officers to perish at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Napolitano, the third Secretary of DHS, received the award in recognition of her leadership and efforts to protect the country from threats that range from terrorism to natural disasters. She has forged new partnerships with international allies and expanded information sharing with federal, state and local law enforcement – building a collaborative effort to detect and disrupt threats early on.

“As I take this award home, I'm going to accept it on behalf of the 240,000 men and women of the Department of Homeland Security,” Napolitano said. “They're really the ones that should receive it; they are the ones whose work you are honoring; and they are the ones who are waking up every morning thinking about how to keep the country safe, and going to bed at night thinking how to make it even safer.”

Napolitano also said how proud she was of the strong partnerships that DHS has formed with the InterPort Police as well as with city, state and local partners around the country and the world. “We are all stakeholders in the effort to keep our ports, our communities and our countries safe and secure,” she said.