by Captain Steve Laskiewicz, JPD
JACKSON TOWNSHIP – On Tuesday, February 8th, Chief of Police Matthew Kunz, along with other officers, friends and family attended the Township Council meeting to support several officers who were being promoted in the department.
Sgt. George Vidalis #251 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He began his law enforcement career in 2003 when he was hired by the Jackson Police Department and graduated from the Ocean County Police Academy. He has spent the majority of his career assigned to the Uniformed Services Division but has also been part of the Jackson Police Traffic Safety Unit, the Ocean County Special Response Team, an Emergency Vehicle Operator instructor for the department and the Ocean County Police Academy and a Firearms Instructor for the agency. His new assignment will be to take over the Office of Professional Standards to replace Lt. Chris Parise who retired last month.
Police Officer Matthew Roth #258 was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He began his law enforcement career in 2006 when he was hired by the Jackson Police Department. He has served in the Uniformed Services Division and also as a defensive tactics and mobile field force instructor for the agency. He is also a former member of the Ocean County Special Response Team.
Detective Michael Goelz #267 was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He began his law enforcement career in 2007 with the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department and was hired by the Jackson Police Department in 2008. He has served in the Uniformed Services Division on the midnight and afternoon patrol shifts and was transferred to the Detective Bureau in 2019 where he investigated various crimes including motor vehicle theft and animal cruelty as one of the agency’s Humane Law Enforcement Officers. He has also served as a member of the Ocean County Regional Sniper Team since 2012.
Detective John Rodriguez #246 was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He began his law enforcement career in 2003 when he was hired by the Jackson Police Department and graduated as the valedictorian in his class at the Ocean County Police Academy. He was assigned to patrol in the Uniformed Services Division until his transfer to the Detective Bureau in 2012. He also served as a member on the Ocean County Special Response Team. Sgt. Rodriguez has also served as the President of the Jackson P.B.A. Local 168 for three terms.
Police Officer Keith Uricks #279 was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He began his law enforcement career as a Class 2 Special Police Officer in 2007 with the Sea Girt Police Department and then also worked for the Ocean Gate Police Department and the Mount Holly Police Department. He was hired by the Ocean County Department of Corrections in 2013 and then by the Jackson Police Department in 2014. He was assigned to the Uniformed Services Division where he worked patrol and also served as a physical fitness instructor, a field training officer and a D.A.R.E. officer.
The new sergeants will be assigned to the Uniformed Services Division until any other potential transfers are announced.
Chief Kunz also took the opportunity to thank the Mayor, Town Council and Administration for their continued support of the agency as it grows to serve the growing township.