Middletown Woman Promoted To Rank Of Captain In NJ Parole Board

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Friday, Nov. 4, the New Jersey State Parole Board promoted law enforcement officer Kimberly Cavanaugh to the rank of captain.

Cavanaugh is a Middletown resident, where she lives with her husband and their nine-year-old son.

Cavanaugh previously served at the rank of lieutenant as a parole board officer. As captain, she will now oversee six of the agency’s district offices located throughout the state.

New Jersey parole officers are sworn law enforcement officers who supervise more than 15,000 offenders statewide.

Captain Cavanaugh joined the New Jersey State Parole Board in September 2000 and served as a parole officer recruit for the first year at the agency’s East Orange District Office, followed by four more years as a parole officer. In 2005, Captain Cavanaugh gained valuable experience within the agency’s Electronic Monitoring Unit, before being promoted to sergeant in 2007, where she helped oversee the State Parole Board’s Sex Offender Management Unit.

This means she was tasked with monitoring the whereabouts of all the registered sex offenders in the state of New Jersey, and supervising the parole officers who kept tabs on these convicted criminals.

“Captain Cavanaugh is a true professional and an accomplished, demonstrated leader who brings a wealth of experience to this position,” said New Jersey State Parole Board Chairman Samuel Plumeri, Jr. “I know Kimberly will instill many positive contributions, strategies and ideas that will assist our officers and commanders that will advance the agency’s Division of Parole.”

In 2006, she also completed a polygraph examiner course through the Academy for Scientific Investigative Training in 2006. Polygraphing is used to obtain information necessary for risk management, treatment, and to reduce the offender’s denial mechanisms. Because of that training, Cavanaugh now oversees the polygraphing program for the State Parole Board, which is one of the few law enforcement agencies in the state that utilizes its own officers to use the technology.

She also instructed officers on gang classification and awareness at the State Parole Board's district offices in Newark. Her critical work involved teaching officers how to identify gang members, gang areas and improving officer safety when working in gang areas.

“I appreciate this great opportunity and thank Chairman Plumeri and Director Dickinson for entrusting me to help lead this important agency,” said Cavanaugh. “I expect this job to be challenging and I look forward to embracing the challenge.”

When not working in law enforcement, Cavanaugh enjoys gardening, skiing and spending time with her family in Lake George, NY.

The NJ Parole Board also works to rehabilitate convicted offenders and re-integrate them into society.