Toms River Promotes Officer, Adds 5 To Police Force

Five probationary officers were sworn in and one Toms River Township police officer was promoted last week during a ceremony at the Toms River Township Council meeting.

Stephen Eubanks, who has worked for the department since 2001, was promoted to sergeant, and Brett Hansen of Brick, Kyle Lamar of Beachwood, Michael Kimble of Howell, Andrew Gannon of Toms River, and John Minor of Bayville all were sworn in. The five new officers replace recent retirees, Police Chief Mitch Little said.

Eubanks, who served in the U.S. Navy from 1988 to 1995, was a police officer in Greensboro, N.C., from 1996-91. Since joining the Toms River force in 2001, Eubanks has served in the Emergency Services Unit and is a certified Emergency Medical Technician. Recently he was assigned to the K-9 unit as a dog handler, his K-9 partner is Boris and they are certified for patrol and narcotics. He and his wife, Marisa, have three children.

Probationary officers sworn in were:

• Brett Hansen, a Brick Township resident who graduated from Brick Memorial High School in 2007. He attended West Virginia University and graduated from Rowan University with a bachelor’s degree in law and justice studies. He was a Class I officer with the Point Pleasant Beach police force and graduated from the Ocean County Police Academy as a Class II Officer in 2012. He was a special victims unit detective in the Camden County Police Department before being hired in Toms River.
• Kyle Lamar, Beachwood, is a 2006 graduate of Toms River High School South and received his bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Richard Stockton College of N.J. in 2011. He was a Special Class II officer in Seaside Heights from 2012-14 and worked for the Roselle Park Police Department as an officer from 2014 until he was hired by Toms River.
• Michael Kimble of Howell is a 2006 Howell High School graduate and has an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Brookdale Community Collegbe and a double bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and sociology from Rutgers University. He started his career in 2014 as a Special Class I officer for the Spring Lake Police Department. He graduated from the Ocean County Police Academy in May as a Special Class II officer for Point Pleasant Beach police department before being hired by Toms River.
• Andrew Gannon of Toms River is a 2008 graduate of Monsignor Donovan High School. He graduated magna cum laude in 2012 from Rowan University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. In 2011, while finishing his education, he was an intern with the Ocean County Sheriff’s Criminalstics Investigation Unit. Before joining the Toms River force he was an Ocean County probation officer.
• John Minor of Bayville graduated from Central Regional High School in 2003 and received his associate’s degree in criminal justice from Ocean County College in 2006. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and criminal justice from Rutgers University. From 2006 to 2008 he was an auxiliary officer for the Toms River Police Department. He also worked as a marine mechanic before being hired by the Toms River police department.