FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – Mon-mouth County Sheriff Joseph W. Oxley announced the graduation of nine Monmouth County and six Ocean County corrections officers from the 22nd Basic Course for Corrections Officers held at the Monmouth County Police Academy on March 14.
Graduates from the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office were Dennis Cleary, Hazlet, Gary Esporrin, Aberdeen, Michael Gall, Matawan, Paul Garofola, Middletown, Jason Grasso, Ocean Township, Nicholas Iozzi, Freehold Borough, Dean Lents Jr., Union Beach, Jamaal Lynwood, Eatontown, and Jonathan Smith, Keansburg.
Graduates from the Ocean County Department of Corrections were Jessica Clayton, Brick, Scott Dirk, Toms River, Randolph Gebert, Point Pleasant Borough, Stephanie Heintjes, Manches-ter, Joseph Pacitti, Bricktown, and Chantannette Weinrich, Jackson.
The Academic Award was earned by Officer Chantannette Weinrich, the Marksmanship Award by Officer Dennis Cleary, the Physical Fitness Award by Officer Michael Gall and the Merit Award by Officer Scott Dirk.
The Basic Course for Corrections Officers is a 10-week training program certified by the New Jersey Police Training Commission.
The graduation address was presented by Oxley. Assisting Oxley with the presentation of certificates were Mon-mouth County Warden William J. Fraser, Ocean County Warden Theodore Hutler and police academy Director John McCormack. Invocation and benediction were offered by James E. Hawkins, chaplain, Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Department of Corrections.
“A jail is a city within a city and corrections officers are the police force of that city,” Oxley said. “I congratulate these graduates as they commence their careers as corrections professionals with the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the Ocean County Department of Corrections.”