At its February 18 meeting, the West Windsor Town Council held a promotional ceremony for Mark Lee, who was promoted to sergeant last year. The Council also witnessed the swearing in of new officers Carlos Abade, James Collins, Frank Zicha, Edward McQuade, and Sean VanNess, all of whom are patrolmen.
Says Lee: “I found out on my twin daughters’ 10th birthday that I was being promoted to sergeant. What a wonderful day that was. If you had asked me 10 years ago if I thought that I would be promoted to sergeant in 10 years, I would have said, ‘no way.’”
“I am humbled and happy to have been acknowledged by the police hierarchy,” Lee says. “Becoming a sergeant was a career goal of mine, one that I have now achieved. I want to continue to grow throughout my career as a police officer. If that includes additional promotions, that’s great, but I am more interested in becoming even more well-rounded. I have been using my time as sergeant to gain more expertise in all aspects of police work.”
Lee’s first priority is to be a part of the West Windsor community. He and his family moved to West Windsor from Hamilton when Lee was 12 years old, and his family has lived here ever since. His father bought the Village Pantry deli in 1983, and the family moved upstairs, where his parents still live. Mark and his siblings started working in the deli when the family moved here, and his brother Scott now runs the deli.
Lee is a 1988 graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School (now High School South), attended Mercer County Community College, and then Glassboro State College (now Rowan University).
When Lee first came out of the academy, he worked at the Mercer County Sheriff’s office for a year and a half, but he knew that he wanted to join the West Windsor force, because, he says, it had a reputation of being head and shoulders above other police forces, one that he says it still holds.
Lee enjoys living and working his hometown. “My daughters, Kaylyn and Brianna, will also graduate from South. They have lived in West Windsor for their entire scholastic life. I wanted to make sure that they have the same quality of education that I had. Plus, the girls love that I am a police officer in their town, and it has helped me to build a rapport with many of our students, which, along with our DARE program, helps to bridge the gap between the police and the township’s youth.”
In addition, Lee believes that being a part of the community is not only an asset to his work as a police officer, but it is one of the responsibilities of the job. “I know so many people here in town, and they really appreciate it when I come to their house, or the scene of an accident, or whatever. I am a friendly face. When the police are active in the communities they serve, it really helps build trust between the force and the community. Some of the fear and potential conflict just fades away,” Lee says.
“Plus, it gives me an opportunity to give back to my community while doing my job. I very much enjoy that part of police work and will continue to serve in that role as sergeant. It allows me to broaden my police experience while serving the people in my community.”
(As an aside, Lee notes that he is not the same person as the Robbinsville police officer Mark Lee who, due to a disability, assaulted a family of disabled residents. Lee explained that it is important that people be made aware of this, so that the mutual trust and respect that he shares with West Windsor residents remains intact.)
Lee was a detective in the West Windsor detective bureau before being promoted to patrol sergeant. There are currently six patrol sergeants, one detective sergeant, and one traffic sergeant on the West Windsor police force. Lee, who is currently an evening patrol sergeant, is still often out on the road in the community.
In addition, he helps Lieutenant Pat O’Brien, who is his supervisor, to oversee interdepartmental training, and remains active in community policing programs. “For instance, I have been working on a senior program at the Elements to help seniors avoid scams. We met with the seniors and explained the types of scams that are used to prey on the elderly, and how to identify them. Officer Justin Insalaco and I also gave a crime prevention presentation to the residents of Canal Pointe.”
When asked why he became a police officer in the first place, Lee takes a moment before replying. “Working in my father’s deli throughout my childhood really helped develop my work ethic,” he says. “You couldn’t be sick. If you couldn’t work, you didn’t get paid. Plus, I really learned how to handle people, from customers to other employees. I was a teenager overseeing adult employees. That takes understanding of other people, how to relate to them. That experience has really helped me now, when I have to relate well with administrators and supervisors, plus officers that I oversee, and, most importantly, the public I serve.”
“In addition,” Lee says, “many of the officers on the force would visit the deli, so I got to know them. For example, patrol sergeant Ken Hawthorne lived across the street. Sergeant John Hanchen lived in the neighborhood — I rode the bus with his son. I also rode the bus with Sergeant Brian Gallant, who joined the force when he was 19 years old. Later on, he was my supervisor when I became a detective. They were all great guys, and the force had a great reputation. So while I was in college, I started thinking about becoming an officer myself, and decided to take the tests, and here I am.”
“This summer I will have been a police officer for 20 years, and I know I made the right career choice back then,” Lee says. “I can’t think of any other place that I would rather be.”
