BERKELEY – Two long-serving officers are now fulfilling new roles as captains after being sworn in recently.
Peter LaRocca and Ryan Roth filled the vacancies created by the retirements of Captains George Dohn and Phil Smith.
When an officer is considered for promotion, they take a Civil Service test, and these two received the top scores, Mayor Carmen Amato said.
Ryan Roth was born and raised in town, graduating from Central Regional High School in 1996. He joined the township police in 2000.
According to township officials, he became a Traffic Safety Officer in 2003 and was promoted to sergeant in 2008. His duties included being an evening supervisor, writing grant applications, and being a liaison for domestic violence. It was in this capacity that he taught elder abuse investigation throughout the state.
In 2012, he was promoted to lieutenant of the day shift and has been the Traffic Safety Supervisor from 2012 until 2022. He is currently a captain of the patrol division.
He is also pursuing a master’s degree in finance with Kansas State University. He and his wife have four children.
Peter F. LaRocca graduated from Piscataway Township High School in 1996 and enlisted in the Air Force as an Intelligence Analyst. Following his service, he joined the UMDNJ (Rutgers) Police Department.
In 2001, LaRocca joined Berkeley as a patrolman. Two years later he was appointed as a traffic safety officer. In 2006 he was selected and assigned to the Ocean County Prosecutors Office Narcotics Strike Force as an undercover investigator. A year later he became a detective for the town, specializing in narcotics and burglaries. He became patrol sergeant in 2011, detective sergeant in 2014, and detective lieutenant in 2018. Some of his duties included Neighborhood Watch Coordinator and Internal Affairs investigator.
He and his wife have four children.
Both officers have blue in their blood. Roth’s father worked for Berkeley and LaRocca’s was chief in Piscataway.
