Lieutenant, sergeant sworn in by council.
By: Leon Tovey
MONROE Two homegrown police officers have been promoted.
The promotions came as part of a larger reorganization of the Monroe Township Police Department’s senior officers instituted by Chief John Kraivec.
Sgt. Kenneth Gross was promoted to lieutenant and Detective Lisa Robinson was promoted to sergeant. The two were sworn in by Mayor Richard Pucci at the April 2 Township Council meeting.
Lt. Gross, who grew up in Monroe and graduated from Hightstown High School in 1972, has been with the department since 1978. He was an original member of the Traffic Safety Unit, which was founded in 1982, and was promoted to sergeant in 1990.
Lt. Gross has served as acting lieutenant of the Patrol Division since Jan. 1.
Sgt. Robinson, a Jamesburg native and U.S. Army veteran, became one of the first women (and the first black woman) to join the department, which she did in 1997. She hold’s a bachelor’s degree in political science from Rutgers University, is pursuing a master’s degree in criminal justice at Fairleigh Dickinson University and has been a detective in the department since 1999.
Additionally, Sgt. Robinson serves as the head of the Township Human Relations Commission and as a member of the Township Juvenile Conference Committee.
The promotions of Lt. Gross and Sgt. Robinson fill gaps left by the reorganization instituted by Chief Kraivec, who was appointed by Mayor Pucci in December to take over for retired Chief George Doerfler, Capt. Kenneth Huard said last week.
Capt. Huard said Lt. Gross would head the department’s Patrol Division while Sgt. Robinson will command a squad in the Patrol Division.
According to the township treasurer’s office, the 2005 annual salary for a lieutenant is $87,195; a sergeant’s annual salary is $79,614.
At Monday’s meeting, the mayor and the council praised both officers, particularly Sgt. Robinson, whose promotion was applauded by a half-dozen members of the New Jersey chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (of which Sgt. Robinson is a member) who were present at the meeting.
Chief Kraivec praised both officers’ records of service and their performance on a series of tests administered by the state.
"Both of these officers have worked very hard, they’ve shown dedication and commitment, and they’ve earned these promotions," Chief Kraivec said.
Councilmen John Riggs and Gerald Tamburro, who have worked with Sgt. Robinson on the Human Relations Commission and the Juvenile Conference Committee, congratulated her on her promotion, saying she had earned her promotion through hard work and dedication.
But another council member jokingly gave another reason Sgt. Robinson deserved to be promoted.
"I’m still using the cell phone you got back for me," Councilman Henry Miller said to Sgt. Robinson, recalling how the then-detective recovered his cellular phone after it was stolen from his parked, unlocked car last year.
"I had given it up for gone, but my phone company convinced me to call the police and (Sgt. Robinson) called me back a few hours later," Mr. Miller said. "She must’ve shaken somebody to their roots to get that thing back to me so fast, so I’ve got to say she’s the right person for the job."

