Crime & Safety

Essex County Sheriff’s Office Holds Awards Ceremony

Awards were given to officers who "went above and beyond."

Press Release Desk's profile picture
Press Release Desk, News Partner
https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/22949620/20221011/043032/styles/patch_image/public/medal-of-honor___11162613108.jpg
The ECSO Tactical Response Team (TRT) receives Medal of Honor award plaques, which were presented by Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura. (Courtesy of ECSO)
https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/22949620/20221011/043032/styles/patch_image/public/officer-of-year___11162613508.jpg
Undersheriff Amir Jones, Sheriff Armando Fontura, Detective John Patino, Chief James Spango, and Undersheriffs John Goncalves and Fizgerald Figliuolo. (Courtesy of ECSO)
https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/22949620/20221011/043032/styles/patch_image/public/unit-citation___11162613866.jpg
Chief James Spango, Sheriff Armando Fontoura, Captain Matthew Goldrick, and Undersheriffs John Goncalves, Fitzgerald Figliuolo, and Amir Jones. (Courtesy of ECSO)

Press release from ECSO:

Oct. 11, 2022

The Essex County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) held a ceremony on September 29, 2022 with a presentation of awards to those officers who went above and beyond.

Find out what's happening in South Orangefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

At the ceremony, Sheriff Fontoura awarded the Medal of Honor to the members of the Tactical Response Team (TRT), who on July 8, 2021, attempted to execute a high-risk search warrant for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. The target had a long criminal record and was known to possess weapons. As the team approached the target, he fired numerous rounds at the officers. The target barricaded himself within the residence for 31 hours and taunted the officers by firing rounds into the floor as they attempted to negotiate with him. With the assistance of the Newark PD, the target was subsequently arrested, ending the standoff.

The following officers received the Medal of Honor: Sgt. Michael Capodanno, Sgt. Christopher Bozios, Sgt. Sergio Tavares, Sgt. Dennis Kihlberg (retired), Det. Robert Liput, Det. Thomas Bender, Det. Daryl Johnson, Det. Giovanni Martino, Det. Noel Mendez, Det. Albert Pensamiento, Det. Richardo Rickards, Det. Larry Taylor, Det. Jose Torres, Officer Christian Megaro, Officer Richard Alberto, Officer Zachary Felmley, Officer Ibn Holman, Officer David Kong, Officer Nicholas Mattia, Officer David Mattia, Officer Alejandro Madera, and Officer Giovanni Olivero.

Find out what's happening in South Orangefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Detective John Patino, a Juvenile Liaison Officer in the Patrol Division, and a member of the Youth Service Commission, received the Officer of the Year Award for the ECSO Department for being instrumental in helping to create the ECSO Statehouse Adjustment Program.

Sheriff Fontoura presented the Unit Citation Award to the Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI). ECSO Captain Matthew Goldrick accepted the award on behalf of BCI, which faced one of the biggest changes in decades -- the beginning of the end of the State Police National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system, and the migration to and implementation of its replacement, eAgent 2.0.

This press release was produced by ECSO. The views expressed here are the author's own.

More from South Orange