JACKSON — Two veteran police officers were promoted and five recruits joined the Jackson Police Department as full-time officers during a ceremony conducted at the Township Council’s Jan. 17 meeting in the municipal building.
Police Chief Matthew Kunz thanked the members of the governing body and the administration of Mayor Michael Reina for their ongoing support of the police department.
During the ceremony, Detective Robert M. Reiff Jr. was promoted to the rank of sergeant. Reiff is a 1984 graduate of Jackson Memorial High School. He was a commercial truck driver for 15 years before pursuing his passion for a career in law enforcement.
Reiff joined the Jackson Police Department in December 2001. He has served in the Patrol Division and in the Detective Bureau, among other assignments. Reiff was named the department’s Detective of the Year in 2016.
And, Police Officer Edward Travisano was promoted to the rank of sergeant. Travisano is a 2001 graduate of Jackson Memorial High School.
Travisano was hired by the Jackson Police Department in January 2006. He served in the Patrol Division until January 2020, at which time he was assigned to the Traffic Safety Bureau.
Travisano’s commendations include a Life Saving ribbon in 2011 for the CPR save of a 76-year-old man who suffered cardiac arrest, and a Life Saving ribbon in 2014 for the rescue of a man trapped in a structure fire.
Kunz then welcomed the five new officers who have joined the police department. Those officers are:
• Christopher Sacchetti, a 2018 graduate of Jackson Liberty High School. Since April 2022, Sacchetti has been employed as a Special Law Enforcement Officer Class II in the Jackson Police Department;
• Zachary White, a 2019 graduate of Jackson Memorial High School. Since June 2022, White has been employed as a Special Law Enforcement Officer Class II in the Jackson Police Department;
• John D’Alessio, a 2018 graduate of Toms River North High School. Since 2022, D’Alessio has been employed as a Special Law Enforcement Officer Class II in the Jackson Police Department;
• Nicholas Chianca, a graduate of Howell High School. Chianca previously worked as a Special Law Enforcement Officer Class I in Spring Lake, before attending the Ocean County Police Academy for the Belmar Police Department, where he then worked as a Special Law Enforcement Officer Class II as of October;
• Mason Twining, a 2019 graduate of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School. Twining graduated from the Monmouth County Police Academy in June 2021 and since that time has been employed as a Special Law Enforcement Officer Class II with the Fair Haven Police Department and the Sea Bright Police Department.
In other business during the Jan. 17 meeting, the council members unanimously passed a resolution supporting planned improvements to Route 537 between Route 526/571 (Trenton-Lakewood Road) and Interstate 195 in Jackson and Millstone Township.
According to the council’s resolution, Monmouth County officials are applying for federal funding under the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority’s Fiscal Year 2022 Local Safety Program and High Risk Rural Roads Program for the improvements to Route 537 between Route 526/571 and Interstate 195.
Jackson officials said the intent of the project is to address safety concerns along the Route 537 corridor.
The proposed improvements include prohibiting a left turn at Anderson Road/Burnt Tavern Road and replacing the existing traffic signal at the Jackson Premium Outlets with a two-lane roundabout which will allow for full access to the outlet mall and will serve as a U-turn facility for Anderson Road traffic to travel west to Interstate 195.
Additional improvements will include a second westbound through lane on Route 537 from Route 526/571 to the Jackson Premium Outlets entrance.
In offering their support for the project, Jackson’s municipal officials said they “believe the planned improvements would greatly reduce traffic congestion and benefit motorist safety for the citizens of Jackson, Ocean County, and the general traveling public.”