New Lodi police officers boost department diversity

SHOUT OUTS: A quartet of transfers from other agencies who were sworn in on Friday have made the Lodi Police Department more diverse than ever.

Jerry DeMarco

02/01/2015 3:59 p.m.

They are:

Police Officer Danyelle Blocker, the department’s first female African-American officer (photo above, second from left);

Police Officer Nora Berrio, its seventh Hispanic officer (center);

Police Officer Ahmet Kulaksiz, who speaks Turkish and Russian (third from left);

Police Officer Andrew Mikahil, the department’s first Arabic-speaking officer (third from right).

Outgoing Mayor Marc Schrieks swore in the group in his last official act as mayor, having stepped down to work as Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco’s deputy chief of staff for government affairs and constituent services.

“Our goal is to put a bilingual officer on every squad,” Police Chief Vincent Quatrone said.

Replacing four retirees, the new officers bring the department’s total uniformed membership to 41.

A fifth officer, Philip Nobile, will be hired in March, officials said.

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