Jersey City Police Officer Cora Kerton has become more than a local presence with her work as a Community Relations Officer.
Kerton, 38, is a nominee for the long-running crime show America’s Most Wanted 2009 All-Star Contest. The contest started on Monday and runs until April 12.
A police officer for the past six years, Kerton is one of 38 nominees whom the public can vote for once a day by going to www.amw.com each week. The nominee who receives the most votes each week will be announced on an episode of America’s Most Wanted, which broadcasts locally on Channel 5 at 9 p.m.
The weekly finalist with the most votes at the end of the contest will win $10,000 and a weekend trip in May to the NASCAR SPRINT Cup Series All-Star Race in Concord, North Carolina.
Kerton is a nominee for helping an elderly woman living in the southern part of the city, whose home was burglarized several times and had developed a case of agoraphobia.
Kerton said she was “surprised and excited” about being chosen as a nominee, and she was modest.
“It wasn’t a big deal to me, I was asked to check in on her and I did,” Kerton said. “It’s what I do all the time.”
But it was a big deal to Jerome Colwell, who works for the city’s Department of Health & Human Services. Colwell was the person who asked Kerton to check on the senior citizen, and responsible for nominating Kerton for the contest.
“Our police officers do so many things in the community that doesn’t get noticed by the media,” Colwell said. “Cora is one of them.”
Police Director Samuel Jefferson said he was “proud” of Kerton being chosen for the contest.
The Police Department’s website HERE also links to the contest website. – Ricardo Kaulessar
Police Department website – www.njjcpd.org