Just in time for Christmas, Kearny will have five new officers on the job as they complete their police academy training.
Katherine Henriquez Deleon, 34, of Kearny, was born in the Dominican Republic and speaks Spanish. After moving to New Jersey, she graduated high school in Jersey City, then obtained an associate degree from Hudson County Community College and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Rutgers University. Her work experience includes the construction and medical fields. Most recently, she was self-employed, having formed her own business LLC.
Dante Mustacchio, 29, of Kearny, attended Morris County College and has had a very extensive EMS career including both paid and volunteer work. Most recently, he was the Chief of EMS for North Arlington. He has learned Spanish to a conversational level.
Breanna Costa, 25, of Kearny, is a lifelong Kearny resident who speaks Portuguese fluently. She attended the Kearny School System and played soccer every year. She then played soccer for Rutgers University, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology and neuroscience. She continues to play soccer in various leagues. Most recently, she managed two Enterprise Mobility locations.
Geraldine Cabedo, 32, of Newark, was Born in Miami and speaks Spanish. She moved to New Jersey as a child and attended the Public Safety Academy in Passaic County. She most recently worked as a physical therapist aide for Sall Myers Medical Associates. Her work experience includes various medicine-adjacent positions.
Labib Sawires, 24, of Kearny, was born in Egypt and speaks Arabic. After moving to the United States, he attended school in Belleville and completed a high school internship with the Belleville PD. At age 19, he became a State of New Jersey Department of Corrections officer. He has led an impeccable career without a single internal affairs complaint made against him, whether by inmates or supervisors. He moved to Kearny and, most recently, was working at Garden State Correctional Facility in Crosswicks, New Jersey.
Four of the recruits will enter the Bergen County Police Academy, while former Corrections Officer Sawires will attend an abridged “gap” program. All five are expected to hit the road with KPD’s field training officers in December.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.