NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–Mayor James Cahill and Police Director Anthony Caputo swore in four new police officers earlier this month.
The city announced the hirings on December 4, but their names were not made public for weeks. Â The new officers are: Justin M. Brugnoli, Andrew W. Puccio, Luis R. Berrios Jr., and Richard C. Regan.
Berrios was also one of the city’s first auxiliary police officers, volunteers who received free police academy training. He is the first to make the jump from auxiliary police to official city police officer, since 2010 when the squad was reinstated
In 2009, Berrios was elected to the city’s Democratic Committee to represent Ward 1, District 1, the area that includes the Gardens at Raritan, Riverside Towers, and the New Brunswick Apartments. Â Two years later, he ran and won in Ward 4, District 2 as a resident of Camner Ave.
“All four officers are residents of New Brunswick,” said Russell Marchetta, spokesman for Mayor James Cahill.
City law requires officers to live in the city when they time they join the force, but after that they are free to move elsewhere.
According to voter registration records, Puccio is a resident of the Rutgers Village neighborhood. Â The residency of Brugnoli and Regan was not immediately clear.
Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.
