Brick Police Officer Promoted To Sergeant

(Addison Jenssen looks at her father, Officer Joshua Jenssen, as Brick Township Mayor John Ducey administers the oath to Jenssen during his promotion to sergeant on Tuesday evening. His wife, Crystal, holds the Bible as son Andrew watches. The family and mayor pose for a photo with Brick Police Chief Nils R. Bergquist after the oath. Credits: Karen Wall)

Brick Township Police Officer Joshua Jenssen was promoted to sergeant on Tuesday night at the Brick Township Council meeting, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of Detective Sgt. Chris Rooney, the department announced.

Jenssen, a 1999 graduate of Brick Memorial High School who received his bachelor’s degree in 2005 from Thomas Edison State College, joined the township police department in 2005.

He received the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police Valor Award in 2011, Sgt. Neal Pederson said, for his actions during a pharmacy robbery in 2010. He also is one of the few to receive the department’s Combat Cross, awarded for “an individual act of heroism at imminent personal hazard of life in combat with an armed adversary,” as well as numerous letters of appreciation and commendations, Pederson said.

In April 2010, Jenssen and three other officers confronted a former N.J. corrections officer during an attempted burglary at the CVS on Burnt Tavern Road. When the man threatened Jenssen, Jenssen twice told him to drop it and then fired, injuring the man. The man’s gun later was found to be loaded with hollow-point bullets, according to news reports. The man, Ralph Stoia, was later convicted and is serving a seven-year sentence in state prison.

Jenssen, who was accompanied by his wife, Crystal, and 2-year-old twins Addison and Andrew, will be assigned as a squad supervisor in the Operations Division.