Five Somerset County police recruits have been selected to receive scholarships to the Somerset County Police Academy to help diversify their local police departments.
Brianna Robinson, Joanna Coppola, Vanessa Hunter, Kimberly Vasquez, and Gianmarco Acevedo are the five 2024 recipients.
They will be, respectively, serving the Bound Brook Police Department, the Branchburg Police Department, the Montgomery Police Department, the South Bound Brook Police Department and the Watchung Police Department.
The recipients, four women and one man, will attend the Somerset County Police Academy and upon graduation will have positions guaranteed at their police departments.
After completing the training, the police departments have committed to employing the recipients for at least two years.
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The scholarship is supervised by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and funded by the American Rescue Plan in partnership with Somerset County.
The scholarship strives to help police departments better reflect the local communities they serve by diversifying their officers.
“This police scholarship program has been an amazing success, helping local residents who may not have been able to afford the academy become police officers in the communities where they were raised,” said Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald. “The program is having its intended effect, diversifying our local law enforcement with highly intelligent, motivated young men and women who truly represent their community.”
Since 2022, 12 scholarship recipients have been selected by nine Somerset County police departments.
Seven officers – two from 2022 and five from 2023 – are currently on the job.
To improve the relationships between police departments and the communities they serve, Somerset County developed the Community Police Alliance with Bridgewater Township that embedded a county-employed social worker with police to help individuals and citizens find help and support to reduce the need for law enforcement and the courts to get involved. The program has expanded to Bound Brook and discussions are underway to bring it to more communities.
Ethan Mannello: Emannello@mycentraljersey.com