By Christine Barcia
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD – Lt. Ronnie Steppat is still getting used to his new title at the Freehold Borough Police Department.
Steppat was recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant after serving as a sergeant since 2009. He was sworn in and took the lieutenant’s oath during the Feb. 16 meeting of the Borough Council.
“The town of Freehold has a good core group. People still care about the community,” Steppat said.
The new lieutenant started his law enforcement career as a patrolman with the borough police force in 2000 and was the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) officer in 2005. Steppat said the police department of 30 officers, including special officers, is a “trustworthy group who want to work with the people.”
Mayor Nolan Higgins said Steppat “has proven himself to be an effective patrol officer and sergeant, and he is prepared to take on new responsibilities as a lieutenant.”
When asked about problems facing the borough, Steppat said that “in any town in the U.S.A., the drug problem is an epidemic. Here, it is heroin; 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds are hooked for life. Narcan (a drug that can reverse the effects of a heroin overdose) has saved lives in the last year or so.”
