The North Bergen police department is operating at full force again, after 17 new officers were officially sworn in and welcomed into the department. The officers successfully completed training at the State Police and Fire Training Academy in Mahwah last month.
In August, 20 officers were hired by the township, and all but three officially completed the rigorous training process. The 17 officers who made it through the training enjoyed their official graduation in ceremonies in Hackensack last month, but were officially welcomed onto the force by Mayor Nicholas Sacco and Public Safety Commissioner Theresa Ferriero last week.
The 17 new officers brings the total of active officers in the department to 120, the highest total since the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed a lawsuit against the township and the police department, citing a lack of minority hiring.
Because of the pending lawsuit, the township was unable to hire any new officers until the case was settled. As part of the settlement, the township agreed to use the hiring lists from East Orange and Jersey City as well, in order to give more minorities a chance of being hired.
Because of that, only one of the 17 new police officers, 31-year-old Steven Hillis, is a North Bergen resident. The other 16 all hail from Jersey City.
Four of the newest police officers graduated from the police academy with high honors. Victoria Schaadt, the lone female among the group, was honored for receiving some of the highest academic test scores. Shawn Lionakis received the Iron Man award. Eric Tavarez received the Executive Officer’s award for leadership and David Saldana received the 200 Club Role Model Award.
The other rookie officers are Ismael Alcina, Christopher Baber, Anthony Cervino, Gregory Costanza, Arthur Del III, Carmine Disbrow, Bronson Jusino, Dennis Lang, Benjamin Ortega, David Rakowski, Christopher Terranova and James Vangelakos.
Police Chief Angelo Busacco is pleased with his new group and has already been receiving positive reports from their superior officers.
“From the evaluation reports that I’ve received, they seem to be a fine group,” Busacco said. “Once they complete the field training and know the township well, then we will put them out on their own. That should take a couple more weeks.”
Busacco said it is a huge relief to have the department back at full strength.
“It’s not only a benefit to the department, but to the entire township as well,” Busacco said. “It’s a lot less stressful on the officers who were doing two and three tasks at the same time. Most of our administrative staff were doing other jobs within the department. Now, we will be able to put more men on patrol and less strain on our detective bureau.”
Added Busacco, “It was a tough time for a while, but we’re back to full strength. That’s very good news for all of us.”