Evesham police swore five officers into new roles at a council meeting on Jan. 21.
“Tonight we’re very fortunate to be swearing in some new officers to our agency,” Police Chief Thomas Reinholt said at the start of the meeting. The department will welcome one SLEO I and four full-time officers.
“The four full-time officers are a result of a couple unanticipated separations (the department) had,” Reinholt explained. “So we were able to thankfully backfill those spots pretty quickly.”
Class II officer Anthony Padulese is a retired township officer with 25 years of service from 2000 through last July. Prior to his law-enforcement career, he served in the Marines for six years and continues to serve the township in training officers.
“What (Padulese) will do in his responsibilities is basically be able to free up full-time officer positions to take care of administrative tasks, specifically training,” Reinholt noted. “(Padulese) brings a large resume of training history to our agency, which he not only encompassed during his career, but also obtained during his military career as a Marine.
“(Padulese) has a lot of experience that our agency didn’t want to lose,” the chief added, “so we’re happy to have him back on a part-time basis. He’s going to spend a lot of time using our firearms training simulator, training our employees and officers and doing other tactics and different projects to help (improve the department).”
Officer John Coffey grew up in Pennsauken and attended Rutgers–Camden, where he earned a degree in criminal justice. He began his law-enforcement career as a Class II officer in Merchantville before being appointed full time. He later served the Pennsauken police department for seven years.
Officer Tyler Denman grew up in Rahway and earned his bachelor’s in criminal justice from Kean University in 2020. He is currently working on a master’s in public management. Now a resident of Maple Shade, Denman has served in the New Jersey Army National Guard for nine years as an engineer officer deployed to Iraq and Syria.
Officer William Mondel lives in Deptford. He attended Gloucester Catholic High School and recently graduated from Rowan University with a bachelor’s in law and justice.
Officer Colby Hayward is a familiar face in the township, having served as a SLEO I with the agency for the last five months. He is a resident of Mullica Hill and a graduate of Clearview Regional High School who earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Rowan University last May.
“It is one of my greatest honors to swear-in our new police officers and I want to thank you all for dedicating your time (and) especially to your families,” Mayor Jaclyn Veasy said. “When we have a new police officer, it’s not just the officer who gives their time to Evesham, it’s their entire family, because we know they may miss holidays or other (life events) to take care of us, and we just want to say thank you to all of you.”
