2 Promoted In Secaucus Police Department

SECAUCUS, NJ — This spring, there were two major promotions in the Secaucus Police Department:

Joseph Baccola was promoted to Deputy Chief.

And Captain Scott Coar was promoted to now be in charge of the administration unit.

Under Police Chief Dennis Miller (he was sworn in March 2020), the Secaucus Police Department has taken a proactive stance to aggressively crack down on vice crime in the town: In the past two years, residents may have noticed significantly more arrests for prostitution and other crimes in the town's many motels.

Almost immediately after assuming the chief of police role, Miller created the department's first-ever "vice squad," to combat what he said were ongoing problems of prostitution, crime and drugs at the many motels in Secaucus — a town just 15 minutes outside New York City and in the shadow of the Giants/Jets MetLife football stadium, concert venue and horse racetrack.

That unit has been busy: They did a large bust at AJ's in December 2021, arresting multiple employees and dancers for prostitution, plus selling cocaine, Oxycontin, ecstasy and amphetamines from the go go bar. Those arrests came after a six-month investigation that involved undercover officers patronizing the go-go bar. Read: AJ's Go-Go Bar A Hub For Prostitution, Drugs, Secaucus Cops Say

And just this week, an anonymous neighbor complaint led to a Secaucus mother-daughter and two others being charged with selling heroin from a private home in town. Read that story: Family Sold Heroin From Secaucus Private Home, Police Say

"The Secaucus Police Department is committed to investigating all complaints of vice crimes to better the quality of life for the residents of Secaucus," Chief Miller said this week. He also said in December: "I composed an anti-crime unit to proactively address crime, and the unit focuses on vice crimes through town, especially in the hotels."

Similar to the "broken windows" theory of policing employed by the NYPD, Chief Miller said that addressing crimes such as prostitution can lead to further arrests for illegal drug sales, illegal guns, robberies and rape/sex assaults — all of which can — and have — happened in the town's motels.

"Proactively addressing underlying prostitution-related offenses suppresses other crimes that come along with that illicit activity, such as drug dealing, sexual assaults, robberies and weapon-related offenses," said the police chief.

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