Brick Police Marking 50th Anniversary Of Department's Creation

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Police Department is marking 50 years of service in the town, and that anniversary will be celebrated at the township's National Night Out event,

National Night Out, which started in 1984 as part of an effort to bring communities together to fight back against crime, is set for Aug. 2 at Windward Beach Park, starting at 6 p.m. The community event also includes the graduation ceremony for the department's youth police camp, along with a variety of displays of police and first responder equipment and presentations.

Brick Township officials provided history of the department in the town's recent newsletter:

Brick Township had been patrolled by the New Jersey State Police for decades, but in 1970 the state police said the town's population had risen enough that it was more than state police could patrol.

Brick swore in its first officers on July 17, 1972: Sgts. Joseph Perna, Robert Forrester, Robert Santaniello, Anthony Sierchio and Joseph DeAngelo, and Patrolman Thomas D'Ambola. The initial six officers were hires to set the organization and prepare for the department to take over policing for the town, according to the township.

On Aug 11., 1972, six more officers were hired: Ronald Dougard, Brian Henfey, Robert Ryan, Michael Mullarkey, Robert Leduc and Philip Gonzalez.

The police department initially worked out of a rented building on Brick Boulevard, according to the township, before moving in 1975 into the current municipal building at 401 Chambers Bridge Road, which was built in 1973. (New Jersey State Police had operated out of the town's former Town Hall building at the corner of Cedar Bridge Road and Brick Boulevard, formerly known as Moore Road.)

The department initially was supervised by a civilian public safety director; H. Walter Dodwell was the first to serve in that capacity. In 1990, the public safety director position was eliminated in favor of a chief of police, and Dougard, among the six hired in August 1972, was the first to be promoted to chief. Dougard retired in 2008 and was replaced by Nils R. Bergquist, who served as chief until 2015, when he retired and James J. Riccio was promoted.

From the initial six officers, the department grew to 55 in 1977 to 111 by its 25th anniversary in 1997. There are 146 full-time police officers and 120 unsworn and civilian personnel in the department as of 2022.

Over the 50 years, the department added a tactical team in 1982, which had 12 officers assigned. The K-9 unit was formed in 1988, with Sgt. Philip Gonzalez and K-9 Sparky and Patrol Officer Heidi Bergmann and K-9 Murphy as its first officers.

The department's Police Camp for kids interested in law enforcement launched in 1998, and in 2002 the department started a marine police unit. Motorcycle officers were added in 2005 and in June 2006, the first paid EMS squad began service.

There have been two Brick Township police officers killed in the line of duty. Officer Richard J. Harper was killed in May 1978 when he was hit by a construction vehicle while directing traffic at a construction site. And in 1999, Officer John Lesemann Jr. died of a cardiac event while he was training at the New Jersey State Police Municipal Officers Academy at Sea Girt.

Note: This article has been updated with information on the second officer's death.