The ceremony brings the police department to 185 sworn.
EDISON -- The township officially welcomed 14 new cops and seven new firefighters at a swearing-in ceremony Monday.
For the police department, the new batch brings the total number of officers to 185, after dipping to around 155 a few years ago.
Since taking office, Mayor Thomas Lankey has hired 36 police officers. They were hired under a new hiring ordinance that instituted a new test for first-time hires. Supporters of the new law, now in full swing, said it would take politics out of hiring decisions. And the public has taken note of the new recruits, according to Lankey.
"We've gotten so many positive comments" from the public, Lankey said.
The police recruits ranged from those who had been in an Edison police car before they could even walk to those who only recently came to Edison, and fell in love with it.
Richard Westover Sr., a retired Edison police officer, watched his son, Richard Westover Jr., get sworn in. He did so just a few feet from his former partner in the police department -- Chief Thomas Bryan.
"It's a proud moment," Westover Sr. said as he recalled holding the Bible while his son, previously a Metuchen cop, was sworn in. "My hands were shaking."
Bryan noted that the diversity of the new recruits, including one who speaks Urdu and Hindi. The department has tried and, like almost every other department in the state, struggled, to enlist a force that looks like the community it serves.
Stephen R. Fingal Jr. has been an officer in East Orange for eight years. Friends recommended the Edison Police Department; he applied, and was impressed in his interviews with Lankey and Bryan. Edison was love at first sight.
"It's a beautiful city," Fingal said.
All Lt. Robert Leoniy's son has ever known was the Edison Police Department. Now, he has a job there.
"Always be humble," Leoniy said he'd tell his son, Robert Leoniy II. "Absorb everything you can."
Leoniy II said he was already working to familiarize himself with the town, and the department that has always been good to his father.
"I want to keep the family name going," Leoniy II said.
The elder Leoniy attended Monday's ceremony in his uniform. For a few years, both Leoniys will be in the Edison Police Department. Lt. Leoniy will have rank on Patrolman Leoniy.
"Now he'll actually have to listen," Lt. Leoniy said.
The fire department replaced seven retiring firefighters, according to Chief Brian Latham.
The new firefighters are Kenneth DiFrenza, John Hansen, Joseph Horezga, Brian Jones, Brian Kilijanski, Jason Mitchell and Nicholas Sacco.
The new police officers are a combination of current police officers elsewhere, recruits that put themselves through the police academy and special law enforcement officers who can work in the department but will need more academy classes to become fully certified.
The new officers are Leoniy, Westover, Fingal, Mohammad A. Ghafoor, Shanta Williams, Dmitry Smolkin, Joseph G. Bench, Jason G. Eckert, Brian J. Monico, Tyler D. Newton, Michael W. Palatella, Nicholas P. Parenty, Chelsea M. Richard, and James J. Whalen II.
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.