Toms River Adds Three Police Officers, Promotes Sergeant

(Sgt. Timothy Sysol listens as Toms River Police Chief Mitchell Little reads his list of accomplishments before he is sworn in as a sergeant at the Toms River Council meeting last week. Credit: Karen Wall)

The Toms River Police Department added four officers to the force last week and promoted one in front of a crowd of family and friends at the Toms River Council meeting.

Timothy Sysol, who joined the department in January 2000, was promoted to sergeant. Sysol, who received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Temple University, graduated from the Ocean County Police Academy as part of its 74th class and received the Chief Larry D. Parker award for achieving the highest physical fitness score.

Sysol was a field traning officer and assisted in training other officers. He was a member of the bicycle unit and the color guard. He spent his career in the Patrol Division and was chosen to be a member of the Emergency Service Unit in 2004. He has special certifications as an instructor in firearms, chemical agents, aerosol projectiles, specialty impact munitions and distraction devices. Sgt. Sysol also has served as a sniper for the Emergency Service Unit, and was certified as a physical training instructor through the N.J. State Police. He lives in Little Egg Harbor with his wife, Michelle. They were joined at the ceremony by sons Austin and Sage, daughter-in-law Whitney and grandson Brycen.

New officers sworn in were:

Thomas Elwood: A resident of Waretown, Elwood graduated from Southern Regional High School in 2006. At Southern he was captin of the track team and a state champion pole vaulter. He graduated from East Carolina University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He worked as a dispatcher for the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office in 2012, and just after his initial training was on the squad that had to work through Hurricane Sandy. He was a Special Class I Officer in 2014 in Bradley Beach before joining the Toms River Police Department. He was joined at the swearing in by his family and his fiancee, Marisa.

Justin Lammer: The 2006 graduate of Toms River High School East attended Ocean County College and then graduated magna cum laude from Rowan University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Lammer started his law enforcement career with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office in 2013 then joined the Toms River Police Department in 2014. Justin was joined by his brothers, Chris and Ryan, and mother Diane at the ceremony, and dedicates his hard work to them and to his late father, Stephen.

William Pestalozzi: The Ocean City, N.J., native graduated from Ocean City High School then received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. His position with the Toms River police force is the first of his law enforcement career. He had been a manager at Acme. He was joined at the ceremony by his fiancee Ceili Bachman and his family.