Five Township Police Officers Promoted
Five Princeton Township police officers received promotions Monday night as Police Chief Robert Buchanan swore in two new sergeants and three new corporals.
The new sergeants are JoAnne Malta and Frederick Williams. The new corporals are Marla Montague, Anthony Paccillo and Matthew Solovay.
The ceremony marks the second set of department promotions since April, when officers Christopher Morgan and Robert Toole were promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Three new patrol officers will be hired soon to fill the vacancies created in the department earlier this year. The former chief and two other high ranking officers retired back in the winter amidst an investigation by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office regarding the improper sale of a township firearm.
Bios for the officers receiving promotions:
Malta, a graduate of the the John H. Stamler Police Academy in Union County, joined the township police force in 1993. She holds a bachelors degrees in social work and psychology from Kean College and a master’s degree in education from Seton Hall University. In addition to serving as a patrol officer, a member the community action team and a corporal in the patrol division, she also has specialized training as a crisis negotiator, bicycle patrol officer and field training officer. She lives with her domestic partner Michaela, and has two children.
Williams, who was born in New York City and raised in Hackensack, served as a military policeman in the U.S. Marine Corps. He worked as a security director in the private sector and held a number of positions with the NJ Transit Police before joining the township police department in 2000. He has worked in the patrol division, was promoted to corporal in 2003, and organizes the township’s annual Community Night Out. He is also the department firearms instructor, police academy instructor and field training officer. Williams is married with three children and one grandchild.
Paccillo joined the township police department in 2001 and has been in the patrol bureau since then. A former patrol officer for the City of Trenton Police Department, he was assigned to the patrol bureau and also served in the pro-active street crime narcotics drug enforcement unit for six years. A graduate of the Trenton Police Academy, he has an associates degree in criminal justice from Mercer County Community College and a bachelor’s degree form Thomas Edison State College in criminal justice. He lives in Hamilton Township with his wife and three children.
Solway, an Edison native, earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Seton Hall University and is enrolled in a master’s degree program at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He joined the township police department in 2005 and has served in the patrol and traffic bureaus. In 2009, he was honored with the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Distinguished Service Award. He is a member of the police honor guard, field training program, awards committee, serves as an agency instructor in many police-related fields and is the state delegate for the Policeman’s Benevolent Association Local #387. He lives in Hamilton with his wife Kathryn and son.
Montague, an Indiana native, graduated from the Somerset County Police Academy and joined the township police department in 1998. She has served as a patrol officer, bicycle patrol officer, field training officer and is the department’s first female firearm and sub-machine gun instructor. In 2001, she was awarded the department’s honorable service award for apprehending a burglary suspect. She and her husband Robert, a detective with the Cranford Police Department, live in Jackson and have three daughters.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.