Weiss, Volkert move up to captain at OBPD Two others named lieutenants; 10 new officers join force BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer OLD BRIDGE - Four veterans of the township police department have moved up in the ranks. Police Chief Tom Collow honored the officers, two of whom became captains, as they were sworn in to their new positions while family and friends looked on during the Township Council's reorganization meeting Monday. "I am extremely proud of them, as we all are tonight," Collow said. "I will demand absolutely the best from them as they lead this department in the future." William Volkert, a 29-year veteran of the department, was promoted from lieutenant to captain. The majority of his career has been in the investigative services branch of the police force. He has also worked at all levels within the detective bureau, and with the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. Now that he has established himself in the investigative field, Collow said, Volkert will serve as commander of the department's detective bureau. Volkert's father, William Volkert Sr., is a retired Old Bridge police chief. Robert Weiss was also promoted from lieutenant to captain. In his 21 years with the force, he has worked in both the patrol and administration bureaus, while being heavily involved with the technology department. A recent successful project completed by Weiss in the area of technology was the mobile data terminal (MDT) program, which provided laptops in patrol cars. Along with his other new duties, Weiss will oversee technology for the entire department. His father, Robert Weiss Sr., was also a captain with the force, passing away while still employed there. At Monday's swearing-in ceremony, Weiss' mother pinned the deceased captain's badge on her son. "Sometimes people say history has a way of repeating itself, that again we have a Volkert and a Weiss working together in the Old Bridge Police Department," Collow said. Robert Schlueter, a 29-year department veteran, was promoted from the rank of sergeant to lieutenant. The greater part of his career has been spent in the uniform patrol division of the department. His new position gives him the duty of acting as patrol shift supervisor. Also promoted from sergeant to lieutenant, Carl Policari's career with the department has spanned 21 years. He has worked with the patrol division, detective bureau, and traffic and safety bureau. He will now serve as a patrol shift supervisor. The promotions come as the result of the retirements of Captains William Cerra and Scott Dyson. With Schlueter and Policari filling the positions vacated by Volkert and Weiss, the department now has to fill the role of two sergeants. Those promotions are done through a testing process, which is now in the works, Collow said. In December, the police department welcomed 10 new patrol officers, five of whom joined the ranks after recently graduating from basic training at the Monmouth County Police Academy. Those five are Michael Pizza, Gregory Goy, Brian Keller, Keith Symanski and Anthony Mottola. A sixth, Keith Mandriota, 36, was sworn in after transferring to Old Bridge from the Jersey City Police Department, where he served for 10 years. Four others - Christopher Hammel, 29, Matthew Atlak, 28, Walter Arway, 22, and Keith Weiss, 27, who served with the U.S. Army in Iraq and is not related to Robert Weiss - are now enrolled at the police academy. The new officers will allow the department to maintain its strength of 104 officers this year.