4 Police Sergeants Promoted To Lieutenants In Westfield

WESTFIELD, NJ — Four police Sergeants were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, announced Westfield Police Chief Christopher Battiloro.

Lieutenant John Tango, Lieutenant Michael Walsh, Detective Lieutenant Kevin O’Keefe, and Lieutenant Lauren Maloney were each promoted effective on Aug. 1.

Lieutenant John Tango

Tango, 41, was appointed to the Westfield Police Department as a Police Officer on July 15, 2005, and attended the Basic Course for Police Officers at the John H. Stamler Police Academy of Union County. He was assigned to the Detective Bureau on January 11, 2012, promoted to Sergeant of
Police on March 5, 2012, and designated as a Detective Sergeant and supervisor of the Detective Bureau on December 4, 2017.

During his service with the Westfield Police Department, Tango was assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Northern New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force for more than two years and has been awarded five Medals of Merit, nine Command Citations, the COVID-19 and Hurricane Sandy Exceptional Service Awards, and a Certificate for Merit.

Tango presently serves as the department’s Driving While Intoxicated Coordinator. He has been assigned to the Patrol Services Bureau, where he will serve as a Watch/Platoon Commander.

Lieutenant Michael Walsh

Walsh, age 42, attended the Basic Course for Police Officers at the Somerset County Police Training Institute as an Alternate Route Candidate and was appointed to the Westfield Police Department as a Police Officer on Aug. 7, 2006. He was assigned to the Records & Information Technology Bureau on May 15, 2012, and promoted to Sergeant of Police
and designated as the supervisor of that bureau on July 30, 2013.

As the department’s Information Technology Officer and Network Administrator, Walsh has been charged with providing technical assistance and support to all of the department’s divisions, bureaus and units by facilitating the use of computers and other forms of information technology.

He has been awarded a Life Saving Medal, a Medal of Merit, a Command Citation, the COVID-19 and Hurricane Sandy Exceptional Service Awards, and a Certificate of Merit.

Walsh presently serves as the department’s 911 Coordinator, Body Worn Camera Administrator, Extra-Duty Employment Coordinator, and Mobile Special Operations Center Supervisor. He will remain assigned to the Records & Information Technology Bureau as its commanding officer.

Detective Lieutenant Kevin O’Keefe

A former New Jersey Transit Police Officer, O’Keefe, age 53, attended the Basic Course for Police Officers at the John H. Stamler Police Academy of Union County and was appointed to the Westfield Police Department as a Police Officer on June 1, 1998. He was designated as a Plainclothes Officer on Jan. 1, 2010, promoted to Sergeant of Police on July 1, 2016, and designated as a Detective Sergeant and supervisor of the Detective Bureau on October 1, 2022.

Since Jan. 1, O’Keefe has been designated as an Acting Detective Lieutenant and serving as the Investigations Commander, with responsibility for the overall supervision of both of the department’s investigate components, which include the Detective Bureau and Juvenile & Community Policing Bureau. He has been awarded two Life Saving Medals, two Medals of Merit, nine Command Citations, the COVID-19 and Hurricane Sandy Exceptional Service Awards, and three Certificates of Merit.

O’Keefe presently serves as the department’s Automated License Plater Reader Program Manager, Asset Forfeiture Liaison to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, and Liaison to the Judiciary for Security Matters. He has been designated as a Detective Lieutenant and will remain assigned as the Investigations Commander.

Lieutenant Lauren Maloney

A former Union County Sheriff’s Officer, Maloney, age 42, attended the Basic Course for Police Officers at the John H. Stamler Police Academy of Union County and was appointed to the Westfield Police Department as a Police Officer on October 23, 2006. She was promoted to Sergeant of Police on July 29, 2013, and designated as a Detective Sergeant and supervisor of the Juvenile & Community Policing Bureau on Aug. 1, 2020.

Since Nov. 1, 2023, Maloney has been designated as an Acting Lieutenant and serving as a Watch Commander in the Patrol Services Bureau. She has been awarded a Medal of Merit, two Command Citations, and the COVID-19 Exceptional Service Award.

Maloney, a Crisis Intervention Team trained officer, presently serves as the department’s "ARRIVE Together Initiative" Program Coordinator and the Domestic and Sexual Violence Liaison to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, as well as a member of the Crisis Negotiations Team element of the Union County Emergency Response Team. She will remain assigned to the Patrol Services Bureau, where she will serve as a Watch/Platoon Commander.

"As their resumes so clearly demonstrate, these newly promoted Lieutenants possess a wealth of unique professional training and law enforcement experience, and I am honored to place them into positions as commanding officers," said Battiloro. "The residents of the Town of Westfield should know that their safety and security could not be in better hands with these tremendous leaders and law enforcement professionals."

The Westfield Police Department currently operates at its highest staffing levels ever – with an authorized strength of 63 full-time, regular sworn law enforcement officers – and a civilian staff of 26 persons, who perform specialized functions in support of its fundamental mission – which is to protect life and property, enforce the law in a fair and impartial manner, and preserve the peace, order, and safety of the community it serves.

In 2023, the Westfield Police Department responded to 58,035 calls for service. Its total operating budget, including salaries and wages, was $8.22 million. Its 2024 operating budget is $8.68 million and, as of 1200 hours in this date, July 29, 2024, it has already responded to 30,268 calls for service this year.

The department is one of around 560 law enforcement agencies in the state of New Jersey.

It has been an accredited law enforcement agency since 2021 and an accredited public safety answering and dispatch point since 2022 – making it only the fifth agency in New Jersey – and the first in Union County – to have earned both such distinctions.

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