On March 20, 2022, we received a report of a missing 4½-year-old child. Upon receiving this call, we immediately set up perimeters and started searching for this young boy. As word got out by mouth and on social media, our wonderful community stopped whatever they were doing and responded in the area to assist in locating the little boy.

This is our community. These are the selfless people who live in our community. One missing child became our missing child, no difference. We had nearby residents, residents from afar, and non-residents all respond to assist without a moment of hesitation. As chief of police and a father of three young boys, this hit home for me. I was asked, What happens if you can’t find him?” My response was, “That is not an option; we will find him!”

I responded to the area and felt a sense of pride seeing hundreds of people in the streets searching for this boy. I was extremely relieved hearing that the boy was located and in the loving arms of his parents.

I want to commend our police officers, who were led by Lieutenant Nicolas Deleon. I received so much positive feedback from our community members about the exceptional job of Deleon and all the members of the Police Department who worked that day: Officers Jose Portorreal, Andres Enriquez, Keith Brooks and Kyle Bruno, and telecommunicators Jerry Switzer and Michael Kasper. I also wanted to thank and commend all the assisting agencies: Bergenfield OEM, Bergenfield Ambulance, Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, Maywood PD, Tenafly PD, Teaneck PD, Teaneck Ambulance, Teaneck Bergen County Chaverim Search and Rescue, and Passaic County Chaverim.

Last but not least, I thank you, the community, our commUNITY. You showed all the other communities how special our community is.

I’m proud to serve as your chief of police.