Politics & Government

Clark Hires Four Police Officers, Appoints Detectives

The new officers were sworn in at Monday's council meeting.

Mayor Sal Bonaccorso swore in four new hires for the Clark Police Department and promoted two current officers to detective at Monday night's council meeting.

Mayor Bonaccorso also stated that he hopes to promote Captain Al Scherb – the current Officer-in-Charge of the department since former Chief Denis Connell and the two captains below him retired – the chief of the department after Scherb passes his Captain's test. Bonaccorso previously had intended to hire a Director of Police.

"Last year, Chief Connell retired and Lieutenant Scherb became Captain scherb," said Bonaccorso. "At that time, we were in the thought process of bringing a Director of Police into the township or making a chief of police. Thus far, Capt. Scherb has shown me a strong ability to make him chief of police. I'm waiting for Al to take his test as captain and pass. Sometime this year, we will hopefully be bringing Al to chief. He's done a great job, and I think he has the respect of the men."

Find out what's happening in Clark-Garwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The new officers are as follows:

Officer Miguel Acabou is an intergovernmental transfer from the Newark Police Department where he served for five years. During his tenure in Newark he was assigned to the Patrol Division where he worked on the Robbery and Narcotics Task Forces, and he received multiple comman citations for excellent police duty. He is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish and is a resident of Union.

Find out what's happening in Clark-Garwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Officer Brian Pereira is an intergovernmental transfer from the Middlesex County Sheriff's Department where he served briefly after being laid off from the Newark Police Department due to budget cuts. her served in newark for two years during which time we was assigned to the Patrol Division and worked in plain clothes on narcotics investigations. He is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish and is a resident of South River.

Officer Joshua Disano is an intergovernmental transfer from the Kean University Police Department where he served for four years. Disano is certified in emergency medical dispatch and emergency communications, and is a resident of Roselle Park. Disano's brother, a detective in Roselle Park, held the Bible for his brother's swearing in.

Officer Omer Olmeda is an intergovernmental transfer from the Newark Police Department where he serves for three years before he was laid off due to budget cuts. Omer previously was a member of the Chicago Police Department where he served for two years. Omer also served in the Unites States Navy where he received multiple awards for his military service. He is fluent in Spanish and is a resident of Newark.

Current officers George Marmarou and Antonio Manata were promoted to the position of detective and also sworn in during the ceremony.

Captain Scherb congratulated the new detectives, welcomed the new officers and promised that his door is always open to them and their questions or concerns.


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