South Orange Village Council and the Chief of Police promoted police office Sandro Reyes to Sergeant Monday night.
At the swearing-in ceremony during the Village Council meeting, Police Chief Stephen Dolinac described Reyes as the son of immigrant blue-collar parents who was instilled with “tenacity and a relentless workout ethic.”
“He strives every day to live up to the example his parents gave him,” Dolinac said, adding that Reyes earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice in Union County College in 2014 and his bachelor of science degree from Rutgers University’s School of Criminal Justice in Newark.
South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum swearts in Police Sgt. Sandro Reyes on Monday night. (Photo courtesy of Sheena Collum)
Dolinac said Reyes also put himself through the police academy – at his own expense and on his own time.”For someone to do that on their own, it shows their dedication.”
Sgt. Reyes said he was grateful and humbled by the recognition. “And more importantly, by the opportunity to continue serving this community,” Reyes said. “We serve a unique and diverse community, And it has become an honor, unlike any other, to serve residents and members of the village. There’s a responsibility that I do not take lightly.”
Sgt. Reyes thanked a long list of colleagues and former colleagues, friends, family, Village leaders, his parents and his wife Gisella and 1–year-old daughter.
He said the role of leader in the police department is about helping and connecting with others.
“Leadership, in my eyes, is about lifting those around you,” he said. “It is about treating people in a transformational way, rather than a transactional one. It’s about helping others believe in something bigger than themselves and inspiring them to understand not just what we do, but why we do it.”
Mayor Sheena Collum said Sgt. Reyes had taught other officers in the department defensive martial arts and that he had once diffused a situation with an emotionally disturbed person intent on self harm, assuring the individual that everything was going to be OK.
“Sandro, I think you definitely saved a life that day,” she said, adding that those things don’t make headlines, “but those are the kinds of officers that we have within our South Orange Police Department.”
“I remember it so well because you had been with our department only a couple of months,” she said. “Two months on the job and put in a life-or-death situation with somebody in our community and having the foresight, the wherewithal, the calm, compassion and empathy to be able to save a life. And that’s when I knew we had someone very special in Sandro.”
