Director of Public Safety is one of the hats I wear for Robbinsville, but no one will ever confuse me with Miller Huggins—manager of the fabled 1927 New York Yankees featuring the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri.
Yet, I often feel like the luckiest man on the face of the earth when I look at the impressive depth up and down our Robbinsville Township Police Department roster.
Last week, along with Administrator Joy Tozzi and with the blessing of Township Council, we were proud to announce the promotions of Adrian Markowski and Tom Egan from sergeant to lieutenant, and Det. Wayne Haugh to sergeant. These moves come on the heels of former Lt. Michael Polaski replacing Chris Nitti as our chief.
I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to know, even after these well-earned promotions, that we can look down the RTPD bench and see even more qualified candidates behind those men inching closer to leadership roles.
I sleep even better at night knowing Kathy O’Connor, with more than 30 years experienced and the longest serving member of our department, along with our other dispatchers, are on the job for our residents 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Policing is hard. We’ve tried to convey that message to the very best of our ability whenever we’re given the opportunity. I’ve said it at least 100 times: Imagine calling 911 and no one answered the phone, or came to your aid?
Robbinsville, in my opinion, is among the best trained and most equipped police forces in Mercer County—if not the state. That is because we make the investment, time and again, to make sure they maximize the only indoor training facility in New Jersey teaching shoot/don’t shoot de-escalation techniques in order to avoid worst-case outcomes.
Our wide array of community policing initiatives is a testament to RTPD leadership and our men and women who go “all-in” for this town every single day. Here is a closer look at how these officers rose through the ranks.
Lt. Tom Egan: Graduated from Stockton University with a BA in Criminal Justice. Joined the police force as a patrolman in August of 2006 and was promoted to sergeant in 2013. He has served in numerous supervisor roles and is the department’s Resiliency Officer, as well as the Deputy OEM Coordinator.
Lt. Adrian Markowski: Joined the force in 2009 after completing the Mercer County Police Academy. After four years on patrol, Lt. Markowski was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Unit and later assigned to the Mercer County Homicide Task Force. He was promoted to sergeant in 2016 and became supervisor of the Criminal Investigations Unit. In 2019, Lt. Markowski was also assigned to the Mercer County Cyber Crimes Task Force.
Sgt. Wayne Haugh: Joined the RTPD in June 2006. In 2014, Sgt. Haugh was assigned to supervise the traffic unit and acquired DRE Certification (Drug Recognition Expert), a program which only certifies less than one percent of law enforcement in the country. In 2016, Sgt. Haugh was assigned to the Criminal Investigation’s Unit and also gave specialized training for other law enforcement officers within Mercer County, in addition to instructing new recruits at the Mercer County Police Academy.
Thank you to all across our nation who protect and serve.
Dave Fried is the mayor of Robbinsville. He has lived in the township for 30 years and served as mayor for 16 years.
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