MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon was sworn into office by Superior Court Assignment Judge Stuart Minkowitz on Friday, January 3 at the Board of Freeholders’ 2020 Annual Meeting, held in Morristown. Sheriff sworn in while holding his grandson Luca as his daughter Kate, holding her newborn Ella, and her husband Matt surround him.
Sheriff Gannon was administered the oath of office during the annual reorganization of the Morris County Board of Freeholders. Also sworn in were Freeholder Doug Cabana to an eighth term, Freeholder Kathy DeFillippo to a third term, Freeholder Thomas Mastrangelo to a fourth term, and former Freeholder Heather Darling to her first, five-year term as Morris County Surrogate.
Sheriff Gannon told the crowd of several hundred well-wishers gathered in the Public Meeting room of the county Administration and Records Building that he owed successes to the support of the public, the Freeholders, and his administration, including Bureau of Law Enforcement Undersheriff Mark Spitzer, Bureau of Corrections Undersheriff Alan J. Robinson, Chief Kelley Zienowicz and Chief Warrant Officer Richard Rose.
“Morris County truly puts the unity in community,” Sheriff Gannon said.
He gave the crowd an overview of programs the Agency has honed, particularly Hope One, the mobile substance abuse resource and recovery program that achieved the milestone of making 10,000 contacts with individuals on New Year’s Eve.
The Morris County Sheriff’s Office Hope One, started on April 3, 2017, has led to the launch of similar programs in Newark, Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth and Atlantic Counties, and the city of Boston now is interested, the Sheriff said.
Sheriff’s Officers have signed up to serve as Big Brothers and Big Sisters to young people in need of role models. The Agency has designated liaisons to build bridges with the LGBTQ community and, the Sheriff said, protection of all 318 houses of worship in Morris County will continue to be a priority.He noted the creation of the RSVP-3 program that focuses on eliminating threats to school safety and the use of a mobile app so that students, or anyone, can anonymous report potential dangers to the school environment.
“This is all done within budget, while returning millions of dollars from our Legal Section and our shared services agreement to the county of Morris,” he said, referring to a pact the Morris County Sheriff’s Office struck to house inmates from the Sussex County jail at Morris’s Correctional Facility.
“The year 2020 will be a great year for the Sheriff’s Office as we continue our focus on counter-terrorism, addiction and mental health services, partnerships with the faith-based community, enhanced re-entry programs, even greater partnerships with our public safety and private sector communities, and other shared service opportunities,” the Sheriff said.
