N.J. attorney general awards for deceased Bridgeton officer, county prosecutor – The Daily Journal
TRENTON – A Bridgeton police officer who died this year not long after making a river rescue and an online, pandemic survival video series from the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office made the cut for an inaugural New Jersey law enforcement recognition program.
The winners of the first Excellence in Policing Awards were disclosed Friday morning, on the one-year anniversary of the Attorney General’s Office coming out with its Excellence in Policing Initiative.
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Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal introduced the eight award recipients in an online broadcast with a series of individualized video segments.
In a posthumous honor, The Detective Joseph Seals Valor Award went to Officer Sean Peek, who died on Sept. 6, 2014. Peek was 49 and a 15-year Bridgeton police officer. The award is named for a Jersey City police officer who died in the line of duty in December 2019.
Peek was found unresponsive at his home. A day earlier, he had jumped into the Cohansey River to rescue a fleeing female burglary suspect who police said either had jumped or fallen.
Bridgeton police Chief Michael Gaimari and other officers spoke about Peek receiving the award, recalling him as cheerful and devoted to duty and his 8-year-old daughter.
“It was admirable on his part to make that decision,” Gaimari said. “And most people might turn around and say, ‘Why did Sean go in the water and save somebody who was doing all that damage or doing those types of crime?’
“But a person is a person, and we don’t pick and choose,” Gaimari said. “No police officer does. And I know Sean, I’ve known him for the length of his career, and I know he wouldn’t think twice about doing something like that. As would any officer here and any officers in the state or the country.”
The Innovations in Public Safety Award went to the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office. It honors a police department or county prosecutor’s office for an innovative program or initiative utilizing community policing practices or community-based intervention services to promote public safety.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak reached Cumberland County in March, the Prosecutor’s Office has done nine videos on topics dealing with how residents can deal with the extraordinary disruption the disease has caused.
The collection of “Coping With COVID” videos is on the office Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/watch/149560108417028/531909697521865.
“It was important to use to work on intervention as well as prevention,” Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said. “And ‘Coping With COVID’ was an easy way to do that within our community.”
“It really started when we had a stakeholder call,” said Matt Rudd, a special agent. “And as we were talking to a couple others who are in various coalitions or cohorts, they were communicating that people were feeling that stress and the pressure that was coming from social distancing.”
“We did episodes on dealing with stress and mental health,” Webb-McRae said. “ We did an episode dealing with the recovery. We did an episode on looking for signs with our children to make sure that they are doing well during quarantine. We also did an episode with one of our chaplains, so that the community knew that the chaplains were still out and about in the community and able to help them.”
Rudd said the episodes in total drew 23,000 viewers, netting some 7,387 minutes. The top watched segment was National Crime Victim Rights Week: Services For Victims & Survivors with nearly 27 hours of viewership, he said.
Other awards were as follows.
The Outstanding Community Partnership Award: This honors a police department or county prosecutor’s office that implemented or strengthened a community partnership or collaboration with community stakeholders to advance public safety.
The choice was Collingswood Police Department, under the leadership of Chief Kevin Carey, for the Police Chief’s Advisory Committee.
Carey talked about the small town feel of Collingswood. The department has 28 full-time officers and about 15 special officers.
“Community involvement is very important,” Carey said. “Me, as the chief, I can stand up and tell the community that we’re behind them. We do a certain number of things to help support them as a community.
“But it means more for that community voice to go out to the neighborhood and tell them that they’re working along side the Police Department, and they have input into the service that we do provide,” Carey said. “So, we can look at quality of life issues. Those things that mean a lot to our neighborhoods that we might not necessarily know. And those neighborhoods can know that we’re paying attention.”
The Outstanding Youth Engagement Award: This honors a police officer who designed and implemented an innovative program or initiative to promote stronger police-youth engagement. It went to Detective Anthony Carrington III from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Major Crimes Unit, for the MOVE Project for youths.
The Police Chaplain of the Year Award: This honor is for going above and beyond in serving a department and a community. It was presented to Pastor Terrence “T.K.” Porter of Pilgrim Baptist Church of Red Bank. Porter is chaplain to the Monmouth County Chiefs Association.
The Detective Pablo Santiago Resiliency Award: This honors a police officer for an innovative program or initiative to improve officer safety and wellness.
It is named for Mercer County Sheriff’s Officer Detective Pablo Santiago, who lost his life to suicide in December 2018. His death led to the Attorney General’s Statewide Law Enforcement Resiliency Program.
The inaugural award was given to Patrol Sergeant Antonia Gonzalez of the Long Branch Police Department.
The Attorney General’s 21/21 Award: This honors a county prosecutor’s office for community outreach efforts in advancing the Attorney General’s 21 County 21st Century Community Policing Project.
The winner was the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II.
The Attorney General’s Initiative Award: This honors a police department or county prosecutor’s office for advancing one of the Attorney General’s key initiatives, namely “Combatting the Opioid Crisis,” “Reducing Gun Violence” and “Police-Community Relations.”
It was given to the New Jersey State Parole Board for its Swift, Certain and Fair Sanctions Supervision Initiative.
For video of the event, go to: https://youtu.be/2PEUYlCo_H8.
Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey more than 30 years ago. ‘Facing it, always facing it, that’s the way to get through.’ He is a former editor and current senior staff writer at The Daily Journal in Vineland. Have a news tip? Reach out at (856) 563-5252 or jsmith@thedailyjournal.com or follow me on Twitter, @jpsmith-dj. Help support local journalism with a subscription.