Chief Joseph Pica presided over a ceremony commemorating the promotion of two officers and the appointment of a third to the West Windsor Police Department. Pica said the proud occasion was marked by sadness since the promotions were made necessary by the untimely loss of popular Lieutenant Keith Hillman last summer.##M:[more]##
Carl Walsh, a member of the department since 1987, has been promoted from Patrol Sergeant to Patrol Lieutenant. Walsh has been patrol sergeant since 1995, and served as patrol officer prior to that. He attended the College of New Jersey, and served on the Trenton Police Department from 1980 to 1987. He has a wife, Linda, and two children.
Patrick O’Brien has been promoted to replace Walsh. He had been a detective since 2004, he becomes patrol sergeant after serving on the department for 18 years. As a detective he conducted juvenile and adult investigations. He has a wife, Jill, and three children.
Mary-Louise Dranchak has now become a juvenile detective to replace O’Brien, and Office Danny Mohr will replace Dranchak in the traffic bureau.
The newest member of the force is Michael Pitts. Pitts is a 25 year-old graduate of Monmouth University who was selected from a pool of 300 applicants. Pitts was captain of the Monmouth football team, and was All-Conference and All-American. According to Pica, Pitts is the only person to obtain a perfect score on the department’s physical fitness test. Pitts will become a patrol officer upon completing his academy training.
