JACKSON – It was a familiar sight as eight new members of the township police department were introduced by Police Chief Matthew Kunz and introduced to the governing body and the public.
The chief frequently accompanies his officers when they are promoted or when they start with the township. During a recent Township Council meeting the chief introduced the officers who then took their oaths of office with the Township Clerk Diane Fastino.
Chief Kunz provided a brief bio on each of the of officers prior to their taking their oath of office.
The new officers include Kayla Reale who will wear badge 334. She is a 2013 graduate of Jackson Memorial High School. She graduated from Ocean County College for criminal justice in 2015 and then from Kean University in 2017
Reale recently worked as a vet tech in Howell and at the Under Armour store at the Jackson Premium Outlets. Officer Reale will be attending the Basic Police Class at the Ocean County Police Academy which begins at the end of the month.
Matthew Cilento who will wear badge 335 is a 2014 graduate of Jackson Liberty High School. He is currently an active member of the United States Army Reserve and graduated the Special Law Enforcement Officer (SLEO) II class at the Ocean County Police Academy in 2018.
He served as a SLEO II with the Point Pleasant Beach Police Department and was hired as a SLEO II officer with the Jackson Police Department in March 2019 and has served in that position until being appointed as a full-time officer.
Officer Cilento will be attending the waiver class at the Ocean County Police Academy to obtain his full police certification.
Officer David DeJesus will wear badge 336. He is a 2017 graduate of Jackson Memorial High School and attended Towson University and Kean University. He graduated from the SLEO II class at the Ocean County Police Academy in 2020.
DeJesus served as a SLEO II officer with the Point Pleasant Beach Police Department and the Lambertville Police Department before being hired as a SLEO II with Jackson in March 2021. He has served in that position until being appointed as a full-time officer. He will be attending the waiver class at the Ocean County Police Academy to obtain his full police certification.
Officer Michael Zak will wear badge 337. He is a 2016 graduate of Jackson Liberty High School and graduated from Stockton University in 2020 with a degree in criminal justice.
Zak graduated from the SLEO I class at the Monmouth County Police Academy in 2019 and from the SLEO II class at the Monmouth Police Academy in 2021 and worked as a SLEO I and SLEO II with the Deal Police Department until being hired by Jackson.
The officer will be attending the waiver class at the Ocean County Police Academy to obtain his full police certification.
Riley Fahnholz will wear badge 338. He is a 2019 graduate of Jackson Liberty High School who graduated from Ocean County College in 2021 with a degree in applied science.
Fahnholz was recently employed by Allied Security Company prior to being hired by the police department and will be attending the Basic Police Class at the Ocean County Police Academy which begins at the end of this month.
Also hired was Kenneth Egan who will wear badge 339. He is a 2005 graduate of Manchester Township High School who attended Ocean County College. Egan graduated from the SLEO II class at the Ocean County Police Academy in 2008 and served as a SLEO II for the Seaside Park Police Department and Asbury Park Police Department
Egan graduated from the Camden County Police Academy in 2014 and has served as a police officer with the Camden County Police Department since that time. While there he has served in the patrol division, Neighborhood Response Unit, Criminal Suppression Team, Detective Bureau, Auto Theft Unit Task Force and on an ATF Task Force investigating violent crimes involving firearms.
The officer’s most recent assignment with the detective bureau was as a member of the Shooting Response Team. After completing in service training, Egan will enter the field training program and then be assigned to a patrol squad.
Lacey resident Anthony Ringle will wear badge 340. He is a 2003 graduate of the Lacey Township High School. He then attended Delaware Valley College and the Ocean County College. He graduated from the Basic Police Class at the Ocean County Police Academy in 2006 and worked as a SLEO I and SLEO II with the Seaside Heights Police Department before being hired as a full-time officer with the Island Heights Police Department in 2007.
In 2016 he was hired as a full time police officer with the Plumsted Police Department and his most recent assignment was as a detective. He also served the department as a Field Training Officer, Humane Law Enforcement Officer, Internal Affairs investigator and oversaw the department’s Body Worn Camera Program.
After completing in service training, Ringle will enter the field training program and then be assigned to a patrol squad.
Zachery Rodina who will wear badge 341 is a 2008 graduate of Brick High School. He then attended Ocean County Vocational School and POST University and worked as an electrician.
Rodina graduated from the SLEO II class at the Ocean County Police Academy in 2018 and then also the Basic Waiver Class at the Ocean County Police Academy in 2019 where he received his full police certification. He worked as a SLEO II for the Point Pleasant Beach Police Department from 2017-2018 and as an SLEO II for the Howell Police Department from 2018-2019.
He was hired as a full-time police officer with the Pemberton Police Department in 2019 and then by the Eastampton Township Police Department in 2020 where he served as a patrol officer until being hired by Jackson.
After completing his in-service training, Rodina will enter the field training program and then be assigned to a patrol squad.
Chief Kunz thanked the mayor and council for their proactive commitment to not only replace retiring officers but “in growing the department to serve the growing township, which is seeing an increase in building and residents. With the addition of these new hires, the department has 110 police officers to serve the 100-square-mile township.”
