Mayor Joseph Scarpelli
BRICK — Weeks of hard work by dozens of township youths and the Police Department culminated in a ceremony last week in front of a packed auditorium.
Hundreds of family members, friends and members of the Brick Township Police Department crowded the auditorium Aug. 5 at the Brick Civic Plaza, Chambers Bridge Road, to watch about 50 of the town’s youth, ages 10-13, graduate from Brick Police Camp, where the youngsters learned hands-on police skills. The event coincided with the annual National Night Out against crime.
In addition to the children’s ceremony, the Police Department swore in several new officers and promoted others to the ranks of lieutenant and sergeant.
The township made a commitment to the residents of Brick to make it a safe community, Mayor Joseph Scarpelli said in his address to the graduates and crowd.
Not only has the camp contributed to increased safety awareness among its participants, but it also may have helped to create lasting bonds of friendship between police officers and the town’s youth.
"We hope the campers had as good of a time as we did," Lt. Douglas Kinney said.
The campers worked hard and listened well, Kinney said, and their efforts were appreciated.
"I hope we made some lifelong friends," Kinney said.
Scarpelli said he hoped the town’s young people will follow in the tradition of heroes from the nation’s police departments, as well as Brick’s own.
"This is a department with a heart," Scarpelli said.
The officers’ involvement in the community as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) officers and coaches, and their willingness to help is what makes them special, he said.
Each potential officer, Chief Ronald Dougard said, went through intensive screening, background checks, and interviewing before being hired to the department. Dougard told his new officers to remember this day if they reach times in their career when they feel like giving up.
The new officers sworn in at Tuesday’s ceremony were Tara Daley, Kristopher DeMarco, Keith Donnelly, Daniel Fogarty, Jason Matthews, Frank Mauro, Mark Nixon and Mark Storch.
Nixon, 27, of Brick, said he looks forward to working for the department and the training he and his colleagues will undertake beginning Aug. 18.
In addition to these new officers, four other members of the police force received promotions. These included Sgt. Marc Person to lieutenant, Officer Timothy Boyle to sergeant, Officer Thomas Sindel to sergeant and Officer Keith Reinhard to sergeant.
Scarpelli vowed to continue the town’s commitment to keeping the police department fully staffed and equipped, and for Brick to remain one of the safest communities in the country.
"It’s not easy to keep up with the pride that is the Brick Township police," he said.