Frank Miele, one of our own, stepped forward to help his community in a time of need. To share with us his standards and sensibilities, his leadership, and when it was called for, his tough love. He gave us the opportunity to pause and look at ourselves and our assets and pointed many of us in the right direction.

He was a man, who, with his gentle touch, sometimes forced us to reconsider our convictions, our predisposed beliefs of life and our roles in it by showing us the larger picture and the possibilities. He liked nothing better than to see someone in his direction discover something about themselves and grow as an individual. I could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice during the many discussions he and I had as he worked. There are many people in our community who have been made better, both personally and professionally, for having known Frank.

#Although deserving of it, he was not a man who looked for a pat on the back for himself for a job well done. If you were to try that with him, he would just direct you to the person or persons who actually did the work. I know he was proud of our department, this collection of policing professionals known as the Keyport police.

It is on behalf of this department that I would like to give a sincere and heartfelt thanks to Frank’s wife, Carol, and their family for their willingness to share Frank with us. They did so even after Frank had retired from a career with the New Jersey State Police, a career filled with many late nights away from the family, of missed family events, of supporting him through the days that followed any particular run-in with the underside of human behavior. At the time of his retirement, when they could have embraced and kept him for themselves, they instead chose to share him with this community; we are all the better for it.

But the lessons did not stop with the onset of Frank’s medical problems, for we were to witness and learn the true meaning of strength, dignity and compassion from this family. Even as he grappled with this tragic event in their lives, they, like Frank, sought to show us the way of understanding ourselves. The grace and understanding displayed by this family toward those of us who did not know what to say, what to do, was and continues to be, simply amazing and we are grateful for it.

Please know that we will consider ourselves fortunate indeed if we attain even half the measure of respect that we have for Frank and you, his family, in all that we do. You have taught us well.

Police Commissioner

Keyport Borough Council