JACKSON – The Jackson Police Department promoted three members to sergeant and added three new members to the department.
On January 30, in a ceremony at town hall, a large group of officers joined with friends and family of Police Officer Larry Logan, Police Officer Arthur Salisbury and Detective Mitch Cowit as the three officers were sworn in and appointed as sergeants with the Jackson Police Department.
Sergeant Larry Logan has been a police officer with the Jackson Police Department since 1999 and has served in the patrol division on the afternoon and day shifts. Prior to being hired by the Jackson Police Department he served in the United States Army and was activated for Desert Storm and afterwards he earned a degree in business administration from the University of South Dakota. He has obtained the good conduct ribbon, achievement ribbon, education ribbon and 2 police unit citations.
Sergeant Arthur “Burt” Salisbury has been a police officer with the Jackson Police Department since 1995. Prior to being hired by the Jackson Police Department he served in the United States Army and also served in Desert Storm during 1990 to 1991 and afterwards he attended Ocean County College. He has served on all of the patrol shifts and was a juvenile detective 2002 to 2006 and a school resource officer 2006 to 2010, he also served on the department’s Special Response Team from 1996 to 2003.
Sergeant Mitch Cowit started his law enforcement career as a Class 2 Special Police Officer with the Jackson Police Department and was then hired as a full time officer with the Boro of Ocean Gate. He was then hired as a full time Police Officer with the Jackson Police Department in 1992. He was transferred to the Detective Bureau in 1996, was a member of the department’s Special Response Team, a hostage negotiator and the department’s designated bias investigator and has been involved in many high profile investigations in his more than 20 years in the Detective Bureau. He has attended multiple law enforcement schools and also currently is an instructor at the Ocean County Police Academy and with his own company, which runs multiple law enforcement training classes. Sergeant Cowit was most recently assigned to Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office where he was involved in numerous narcotics investigations throughout the county.
The newly promoted Sergeants will be assigned to supervise squads in the Patrol Division.
Police Officer Kevin Kleinknecht joined the agency as an intergovernmental transfer from the Manasquan Police Department. He graduated from Jackson Memorial High School before attending Brookdale Community College and Stockton University. He then graduated from the Monmouth County Police Academy and served as a patrol officer with the Manasquan Police Department since 2015 prior to transferring to the Jackson Police Department.
Police Officer Thomas Conti graduated from Jackson Memorial High School and attended Ocean County College. He graduated from the Ocean County Basic Course for Special Police Officers and served as both a Class 1 and Class 2 Special Police Officer with the Seaside Heights Police Department and most recently as a Class 2 officer with the Jackson Police Department. He will be assigned to attend an upcoming academy class for training to obtain his waiver to full time officer.
Police Officer Derek Thomason served as a Jackson Police Explorer as a teenager and graduated from Jackson Liberty High School. He graduated from the Ocean County Basic Course for Special Police Officers and served as a Class 2 Special Police Officer for the Point Pleasant Police Department and the Jackson Police Department. He was then hired as a full time police officer with the Robbinsville Police Department before returning to the Jackson Police Department and is attending training at the Ocean County Police Academy to obtain his waiver to full time officer.
The three recently hired officers are currently in training and riding with Field Training Officers. When they complete the field training program, they will be assigned to a patrol squad.
These hires bring the department to 89 sworn officers to serve the 100 square mile township and its approximately 60,000 residents. The department was at its highest staffing of 90 officers in 2008. We would like to thank the Mayor, Town Council and Administration for their continued support and commitment to staffing and supervision within the department so the agency is better prepared to serve the residents and visitors to the Township as we look forward to the future and several large projects which will bring more residents to the community.
