CITIZEN POLICE ACADEMY GRADUATES HONORED

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden congratulated the 41 Monmouth County residents who successfully completed the 15th Annual Citizens Police Academy as part of a graduation ceremony held on November 17th at the Monmouth County Police Academy in Freehold.

“Your desire to serve your community and to understand the important responsibilities of law enforcement at all levels are most commendable,” said Sheriff Golden. “Thank you for dedicating the last seven Thursday nights to learning about law enforcement and how we work together to keep our communities, county and country safe.”

Citizens Police Academy strives to build cooperation and understanding between law enforcement and the residents they serve through classroom discussion and group interaction. Residents selected for the seven-week program were presented with an overview of the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office which runs the Law Enforcement Division, the Monmouth County Communications Center, the Office of Emergency Management and the Monmouth County Correctional Institution. They also learned about Monmouth County’s shared service initiative, the civil process unit, foreclosures, public information, crime prevention and the role of the police chief and public safety director. In addition, the class received certification in First Aid and heard from special agents from the DEA and the Department of Homeland Security. One of the highlights of the training was a tour of the Monmouth County Correctional Institution.

Graduates are given the opportunity to volunteer in the Sheriff’s Office VISCOMP program (Volunteers In Sheriff’s Community Programs) and with the Monmouth County Office of Emergency as a disaster volunteer. Twenty three of the forty graduates have signed-up for these volunteer opportunities.

“In these difficult economic times, all county agencies must do more with less. The time dedicated by our VISCOMP volunteers has exceeded 1200 hours and through those volunteer efforts, we are able to maintain our 32 community safety programs in Monmouth County,” said Sheriff Golden. “I thank and welcome our twenty three new volunteers.”

Graduates of Citizen Police Academy are: Francisco Aburto – Freehold, Christopher Boe -Freehold, Vincent Bonica – Manalapan, Carol Casey – Freehold, Keith Casey – Freehold, Wilson Chan – Marlboro, Diane Cismowski – Ocean Grove, Debra Clayton – Oceanport, Shane Cobb – Freehold, Tyler Cobb – Freehold, Anita Dedalis – Colts Neck, Praful Dixit -Morganville, Raj Dixit – Morganville, Richard Eisenbeis – Matawan, Richard Enzerillo – Farmingdale, Paul Douglas Franke – Freehold, Richard Gunther Jr. – Wall, Jamie Hoyos – Tinton Falls, Victor Huhn Sr. – West Long Branch, Sherry Irish – Matawan, Gregory Irish – Matawan, Darlene Kapitan – Colts Neck, Conchita Kennedy – Howell, James Kiernan – Atlantic Highlands, John Kuper – Freehold, Brian Leite – Englishtown, Deborah Mikkelson – Howell, Thomas Moran – Freehold, Katherine Mullholland – Freehold, Edward Piotrowski – Colts Neck, Diana Piotrowski – Colts Neck, Susan Ralph – Manalapan, Patrick Ramdass – Middletown, Andrew Siciliano – Long Branch, Matthew Simpson – Neptune, Grace Soden – Freehold, Carol Stevenson – Freehold, Marcos Terreros – Freehold, Francis Walsh – Spring Lake Heights, Harold Wiener – Marlboro and Pamela Yodakis – Colts Neck.