Dear Editor:
The Hoboken Police Department’s second summer event was held during the week of Aug.16-20. That was the Junior Police Academy for ages 12 to 15 years old. Chief Anthony P. Falco wanted to bring back what was originally named ‘Youth Week’, with a few enhancements to the program creating a police academy-simulated environment. This event was coordinated by Sgt. Melissa Gigante, P.O. Jason Falco, P.O. Anthony Fesken, P.O. Dan Simone III, and P.O. William James. Forty Hoboken pre-teens and teenagers embarked on the Stevens Tech campus every morning at 8:45 to begin a full day of exercise, drills, demonstrations, presentations, and most importantly, learning about teamwork. They were met every morning by their drill instructor Sgt. Mike Ciriello of the New Jersey Transit Police Department, who immediately began drilling home the importance of self-discipline. Every day was spent on the Stevens campus except for Wednesday, when the class was taken on a field trip to see the Essex County Police Academy, in order to get a first-hand view of the type of facility that is used several times a year for 26 weeks to certify police officers from around the entire state. The week culminated with a Friday graduation ceremony at 11:00 a.m. at Stevens’ Kiddie Hall, followed by a barbecue with our chef, Eddie Rivera.
Chief Falco and Lt. Ferrante would like to thank the following contributors: Stevens Institute of Technology and its Interim University President George Korfietis, for the use of the campus and many of its wonderful facilities; Stevens Tech Police Department’s Chief Tim Griffin, who is always there with support for our department, and all of his officers who graciously assisted during the week; The Applied Companies for their generous donation that enabled the students to receive shirts, hats, bags, and water bottles; the Hoboken Puerto Rican Cultural Committee and President Raul Morales for their donation that helped provide for the graduation ceremony; PSE&G for their donation; the Essex County Police Academy for allowing the children a full day’s use of their facility; New Jersey Transit Police for providing us with Sgt. Ciriello to be our drill instructor; ESPN boxing analyst and world champion trainer Teddy Atlas for his motivational speech on the academy’s first day; the New Jersey State Police; the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office; our own P.A.L. Director Bobby Gohde; P.O. Cesar Olivarria of the Institute of Defensive Methods for his self-defense instruction; Luca Brasi’s for supplying the students’ lunches every day; Atlantic Tropical for supplying fruit for the students each morning; A & P Supermarket for its donations of food and supplies; Director Carmelo Garcia and ALSTO bus company for supplying the bus for Wednesday’s class trip; The Jersey City Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit, K-9 Unit and Bomb Squad’s Amelio Ramos; Hoboken Police Motorcycle Squad’s P.O. John Alvarez and P.O. William Montanez; graduation day chef Eddie Rivera and D.J. Taz; Feliciano Santos; all the members of the Hoboken Police Department and the Community Policing Unit, especially the event coordinators; and a special thank you and congratulations to all the students who participated and completed the one-week instructional course.
Chief Anthony P. Falco
Lieutenant Ken Ferrante