This Week in NJ Law: Middlesex Memorial Unveiled

Middlesex County unveiled a memorial for fallen law enforcement officers this week. A full-color mural spanning the main corridor of Middlesex County Police Training Center in Edison, the memorial features plaques that include the name, agency, and date of death of every officer.

The plaques are respectfully referred to as the “Final Roll Call,” honoring the lives and service of the fallen officers. Beneath the mural, a phrase reads, “We Will Never Forget.”

The unveiling ceremony was a poignant time for many family members of the fallen officers. The keynote speaker for the event, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey, spoke about the service which every police officer provides:

“Being a police officer,” Carey said, “is not an easy job. And it gets more challenging as time goes on. A police officer is expected to be a doctor, a social worker, a law enforcement officer, and all of that when something has failed and someone calls 911. These are men and women who run towards danger, not away from it.”

South River Police Chief Mark Tinitigan expressed that he hopes no names will need to be added to the memorial.

“Twenty-seven,” Tinitigan said, “is a significant number. I hope it never increases. I hope this memorial serves to give the families [of the fallen officers] solace.”

Gruber, Colabella, Thompson, Hiben & Montella would like to express our most sincere gratitude for the service of our local police officers, and we would like to extend our condolences to the families of fallen officers.

The Middlesex County prosecutor’s office released a list of the officers honored in the memorial, and we would like to share them below, in honor of their lives and sacrifices.

John Bodnar, Sr. of the Carteret Police Department; William J. Cady of the South Plainfield Police Department; Robert A. Cardone of the South Brunswick Police Department; William L. Carroll, Jr. of the New Jersey State Police; Richard H. Conklin, South Plainfield; Woodhull W. Davis of the Juvenile Justice Commission; Michael Dudash of the Edison Police Department; George Dunham of the Franklin Township Police Department, and Charles Eberwein of the South River Police Department.
Also: Werner Foerster, New Jersey State Police; John Gurnovich, South Brunswick; Robert S. Heathcock of the North Brunswick Police Department; Howard J. Kline Jr., of the Milltown Police Department; Harry C. Kuell, Sr., of the East Brunswick Police Department; John Lebed, Franklin Township; Joseph Lewis of the Woodbridge Police Department; Richard E. Mcgilvery of the Rutgers University Police Department; Joseph Michalowski of the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department; Frank J. Papaianni, Edison;  Thomas E. Raji of the Perth Amboy Police Department, and Walter Rusinak, Carteret.

Also: William A, Savage of the New Brunswick Police Department; Christopher S. Scales of the New Jersey State Police; Robert Shanley, Carteret; William I. Van Arsdale, New Brunswick; Alvin Williams, Woodbridge, and Warren G. Yenser, New Jersey State Police.