Detective Encourages Community to Come Forward

• Name: Detective Sergeant Andrew Caggiano, 36, has been a police officer for 14 years.
• Married: Caggiano and his wife have been married 13 years. They have three daughters, ages 10, 8, and 5.
• What Part of Town: Originally from Montville, Caggiano went through the district’s schools. He now lives in Jefferson Township. “It reminds me a lot of Montville but it’s back a few years. It’s more rural,” Caggiano said.
• Education: Caggiano began to entertain the idea of becoming a police officer during his time at . “In high school I started getting interested in it,” he said. “I graduated college from John Jay. I got a lot of criminal justice courses in there and that’s when I really became interested in it and took more steps to get into this field.” Caggiano has a bachelor of science in criminal justice. “A lot of my professors were actually current or former law enforcement officers,” he said, noting that they had served at federal, state and local levels. “So we got to see, not only what it says in the books, but the real world experience too. The more I learned about it the more I got excited about doing it.”
• Career:  The detective sergeant’s law enforcement career began as a member of the Montville Township Police Force. For the past 11 years he has been assigned to Montville’s detective bureau. Initially he was a juvenile officer. Today he is a supervisor. “When a complaint comes in or a crime occurs,” explained Caggiano, “the patrol officers will take the initial report, and all the follow-up investigation is turned over to our detective bureau. So we’ll follow-up on all the criminal complaints that come in and do the investigations on them.” The nature of crimes in Montville tends to be mostly “a lot of it is property crime, fraud and identity theft,” according to Caggiano. “From time to time there is some violent crime but it’s sporadic.” Caggiano and three others work in the detective bureau. “I think of them as friends.”
• Why the Police Squad: “I enjoy the work,” said Caggiano. “I enjoy helping people. I enjoy getting out in the community. It’s a good job to have and it’s rewarding. Being able to help people in their time of need is rewarding.”
• Most Rewarding: “There’s a couple,” Caggiano said. He cited a case from a couple years ago when a landscaper found a skeleton. “It was a homicide, and we were able to determine who it was. But, I think being able to find the family of this person, because they didn’t know where their family member was. He was an illegal immigrant, so no one had reported him missing. But yet his family didn’t know where he was. So to be able to at least bring some closure to that family … and we were able to arrest the two people who committed this crime. As much as it was sad for the family, you are at least able to put some closure for the deceased.”
• Most Difficult: “Having to knock on that door and tell someone that their family member has passed away,” Caggiano said. “Especially when it’s a child. That’s the hardest part. You know, having children myself, I can’t imagine being in their shoes.”
• Favorite Thing about Montville Township:  “I grew up here, so I still know a lot of people here. It’s a nice community. I’ve got a lot of good memories here.” Caggiano enjoys working on the township’s police force. “There’s a good group of guys to work with here,” he said. “It’s a place where you can see that you can make a difference here, as opposed to being lost in a big city.”
• Something you would change about Montville Township: “I think the town actually kind of lacks a center of town,” Caggiano said.
• Other Activities:  The detective coaches’ basketball and softball “for my kids,” he said. He is also involved in his local church in Jefferson. When he has spare time Caggiano likes to go to hockey games.
• Hobbies: Caggiano plays golf and ice hockey. “I don’t get to play them as often as I’d like to,” he said.
• Philosophy: “Live life to the fullest everyday and try to treat people the way you want to be treated.”
• Advice: “We’re here to help,” said Caggiano. “If people have problems or have become victims, come forward. Or, if they see something that is not right in their neighborhood, call us. We’d rather come out and check something out and it be nothing, then to wait and not call us.”

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