New Police Officers Sworn To Serve Parsippany

PARSIPPANY, NJ — Three new officers were recently sworn to serve on the Parsippany Police Department.

Mayor James Barberio, joined by Chief Rich Pantina, presided over the Oath of Allegiance Ceremony for cadets Vincent Colantoni, Steven Kyratzis, and Shyam Patel during an official ceremony on Dec. 26.

“When I returned to office, I committed to prioritizing public safety and restoring our Parsippany Police force to its full strength,” Mayor Barberio said. “I have no doubt these young men will excel at the police academy and become valuable members of our outstanding police department.”

These three recruits also took the oath of allegiance and received their badge assignments from Chief Richard Pantina and Mayor James Barberio.

This new round of hires follows a group of six officers who just graduated from the academy on May 30, after being sworn in last December.

The Parsippany Police Department has previously been described as understaffed due to a hiring freeze imposed by the previous administration, which has reduced the town’s force to 81 deployable officers, down from more than 100 five years ago.

Since then, there has been an ongoing effort to increase funding toward the police department to allow for more hires.

The Parsippany Police Department has a chain of command that includes a Chief of Police, Deputy Chief of Police, Captains, Lieutenants, Sergeants, Detectives, Patrol Officers, Class II and III (part-time) Special Law Enforcement Officers (SLEOs), Public Safety Telecommunicators (dispatchers) and civilian personnel.