Family, friends and colleagues packed council chambers Nov. 8 to witness two Lawrence Township police officers take their oaths of office.
Christopher Longo received a promotion to lieutenant while Timothy Wallace was sworn in as a new officer in the township during the November meeting of Lawrence Township council. Supporters filled the room, with nearly every seat filled and even more well-wishers standing along the rear of the chambers.
Mayor Christopher Bobbitt administered the oath of office to both Longo and Wallace. Wallace was accompanied by his mother Jannifer Wallace and girlfriend Edimar Lucero. Two of Longo’s children—Cara and Chase—helped administer his oath. Longo said his daughter Kylee could not attend because she was away at college.
A lifelong Lawrence resident, Longo credited his family’s involvement with public safety for leading him into law enforcement. He started first as a firefighter with Lawrence Road Fire Company and then as a county dispatcher, before joining the Lawrence Police in October 1999. Longo is a graduate of the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and has previously been employed as a police officer in North Wildwood and as an Investigative Specialist by the FBI. He has served in Lawrence as a police officer, detective and sergeant.
Wallace, a Lawrence resident, began his career as a security officer at Quaker Bridge Mall. There, his skill at the job caught the eye of Lawrence Police officers stationed at the mall. Wallace moved on to become an officer with the Trenton Police. He has been working in Lawrence since the summer.
Raised in Hamilton, Wallace graduated from Nottingham High School, and earned his associate’s degree in criminal justice from Mercer County Community College. He also has worked as a correction officer at the Garden State Correctional facility.
