He faces no opposition for the Democratic ticket in Tuesday’s primary.
By: Linda Seida
Police Director Bruce Cocuzza is making his second bid for the office of Hunterdon County sheriff, running unopposed on the Democratic ticket in Tuesday’s primary.
He will face off in November against the winner of the four-way GOP race.
Vying for the Republican nomination to run for sheriff are Freeholder Director George Muller, former Bernardsville police officer Gary "Buzz" Howell, and two sheriff’s officers, Tony Critelli who left the sheriff’s office in 2004 after about 20 years, and Deborah Trout, 55, who once worked for the Hunterdon sheriff’s office and now works for the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff William Doyle decided not to run for re-election.
Mr. Cocuzza, 54, of Raritan TownShip, has been Lambertville’s police director since 1999. If he wins the November election, Lambertville will be forced to find a new police director.
Mayor David Del Vecchio described the situation as a win-win for the city.
He said, "It would be unfortunate to lose him, but the city would be the winner either way. We’ll either have him as police director or sheriff."
Lambertville renewed Mr. Cocuzza’s contract in 2006 with a salary of $69,000 and no benefits.
According to statute, the county sheriff earns a minimum salary of $91,650. Health benefits are available with a contribution of 1 percent of the annual salary.
Mr. Cocuzza made no mention of salary or benefits in a recent interview when asked why he wants the job. Instead, he talked about the challenge of the position as well as the imperative needs the sheriff’s department now faces.
"I have probably one more challenge in me," he said. "It would be an accomplishment and a challenge, and, yet, I would still be serving my community; I still would be serving my county. I think I can do the job justice, and it’s sorely needed."
He has called the department a "sheriff’s office in crisis." In his view, "the powers that be" have turned the county sheriff into a "do-nothing occupation."
He said, "Hunterdon County has diminished the sheriff’s department."
Hunterdon is the only county in the state without at least one bomb-sniffing dog, according to Mr. Cocuzza.
"That’s disgraceful," he said. "Anytime you have a suspicious package or bomb threat, you wait hours and hours" for another agency, even from as far away as Philadelphia, to bring in a trained dog.
If he is elected, he said he would bring back the K-9 unit and apply for a homeland security grant to pay for it.
According to Mr. Cocuzza, there’s too much that needs to be done to allow the status quo to stand.
"Drugs are rampant," he said.
Also, the immigrant population is "burgeoning, bringing with it domestic issues and some criminal activity that must be addressed. Nobody wants to seem to take the bull by the horns."
The Hunterdon County sheriff’s office has been "reduced to a minimal agency," Mr. Cocuzza said.
Mr. Cocuzza’s campaign literature says he would "restore honor" to the department.
The sheriff’s department has suffered a few black eyes over the past few years. Among them was the county’s settlement of several lawsuits, reportedly for more than $600,000, in which outgoing Sheriff Doyle was accused of harassment and other misconduct. Among the four who filed the suits were two of this year’s GOP candidates, Ms. Trout and Mr. Critelli.
Mr. Cocuzza has 33 years of experience in law enforcement, 24 of them with the New York City Police Department. He also spent a year with the U.S. Marshals at the federal courthouse in Trenton.