The Norfolk Division of the FBI presented the Director's Community Leadership Award for 2001 to Sheriff Paul J. Lanteigne, City of Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office, to recognize his commitment to drug education and prevention and his outstanding achievements in working with people of all ages to promote a safe community.

Strongly committed to working with the youth in our community, Sheriff Lanteigne has helped develop many community programs. As Sheriff, Lanteigne oversees and administers the Drug Abuse Resistant Education Program (DARE) in all Virginia Beach elementary schools, one of the largest DARE units in Virginia. He also established an Adopt-a-School partnership between the Sheriff's Department and Strawbridge Elementary School, Plaza Middle School, and Kellam High School in Virginia Beach. He has served as the security coordinator for "Celebrate Life," a substance-free graduation night celebration at a local Virginia Beach high school. Sheriff Lanteigne is an active member in the Virginia Beach Courts Docent Program. Through this program, students witness actual trials in progress and tour the Virginia Beach Correctional Center. Lanteigne initiated a part of the Docent Program which allows the students to hear firsthand from an inmate about the daily life behind bars.

Sheriff Lanteigne is dedicated to helping people of all ages, demonstrated by his involvement with the schools and his work to develop programs for seniors. One such program is the PASS (Phone a Senior or Shut-in) Program, in which volunteers make daily telephone calls to check on the welfare of seniors and shut-ins with no loved ones in the area. Sheriff Lanteigne was also the 1999 recipient of the Virginia Beach Human Rights Commission Award, given by the City of Virginia Beach in recognition of "meritorious service in the pursuit of cultural diversity and advocacy of human rights, which benefit Virginia Beach citizens."

Sheriff Lanteigne has been in law enforcement for over 25 years in Hampton Roads. He has served as a Virginia Beach Police Officer, on the Virginia Beach City Council, as the Jail Administrator for the Virginia Beach City Jail, and as Chief Deputy of the Sheriff's Department. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Sheriff Lanteigne is married to the former L. Tracy Brown. They have three children.