JACKSON – Four police officers in Jackson Police Department have been promoted.
Police Chief Matthew Kunz recognized the officers during the July 14 meeting of the Township Council.
John Giovanetti has been promoted from lieutenant to captain. He was hired by the police department in July 1999.
Giovanetti served as a patrol officer on the midnight shift from 2000-07 and as a detective from 2007-09. He was promoted to sergeant in 2009 and to lieutenant in 2015. He has supervised the communication center from 2015-20.
As a captain, Giovanetti will serve as commander of the Uniformed Services Division.
Giovanetti continues to supervise the communication center. He has served as a member of the police department’s special response team and he served on the Ocean County Regional SWAT Team North.
He is the police department’s liaison to Six Flags Great Adventure and the Jackson Outlet Village and he is working to build a new radio system for the township as the liaison with Motorola.
Giovanetti has been named Officer of the Year in 2004, 2005 and 2007. He earned the Excellent Police Duty Ribbon in 2005 for his actions saving a life during a random drive-by shooting incident, Kunz said.
John McBride has been promoted from sergeant to lieutenant. He worked for the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office from 1997-99 before joining the Jackson Police Department.
He was a patrol officer from 1999 through 2005, also serving as a field training officer. He served as a patrol sergeant from 2005-20.
“Lt. McBride is a very proud, patriotic American, born on the 4th of July. He has been honored to serve his country at four levels of government. The federal level was with the U.S. Navy as an aviation electrician … the state level was with the New Jersey Air National Guard, holding a top secret clearance as an intelligence analyst,” Kunz said.
Frank Cipully has been promoted from police officer to sergeant. He was hired by the Jackson Police Department in August 1995.
He served in the Patrol Division from 1996 to 2003. He became a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) officer in 1998 and continues to teach anti-drug, anti-bullying, violence and gang awareness programs.
“Sgt. Cipully became a certified School Resource Officer in 2004 and was assigned to the Goetz Middle School.
“In 2006, he was assigned to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Task Force, helping to identify and arrest 16 child predators, and gathering enough intelligence to assist in future arrests and the prosecution of at least 20 other sexual predators,” Kunz said.
Some of Cipully’s arrests were seen on the NBC-TV show “To Catch A Predator.”
Joseph Candido has been promoted from police officer to sergeant. Following a career in finance, he became a corrections officer before being hired by the Jackson Police Department in 1999.
“His career assignments and highlights include working on the afternoon shift for the first half of his career, then moving to the day shift in the Patrol Division.
“During his 21-year career with the Jackson Police Department, Joe has been involved with the Police Explorers program and has been a field training officer, training new police academy recruits.
“For 15 years, Joe served as a traffic safety officer investigating serious and fatal motor vehicle crashes,” Kunz said.
Candido was named Jackson’s Officer of the Year in 2012.