METUCHEN — A lifelong Metuchenite has joined his hometown police force.
Brian Mulligan was officially sworn in at a Borough Council meeting on Dec. 3.
“Not only is this the second officer I have sworn in as mayor, but also [Mulligan] is the second homegrown [officer],” Mayor Jonathan Busch said. “He was born and raised in Metuchen. It’s great to have an officer who knows the community.”
Police Chief David Irizarry thanked the mayor and Borough Council for their support of the police department.
“We unfortunately had an officer leave for another jurisdiction and that opened a spot up for Brian,” he said. “When I went to the council and told them we had someone leaving and we needed to have someone, there was no hesitation from the council. They really know our commitment to public safety, and pedestrian and traffic safety is of the utmost importance.”
Irizarry said Mulligan went through the Metuchen School District and served on the volunteer Metuchen Fire Department.
“One of the biggest things about Brian that I hold near and dear to my heart is I just stole him from [Middlesex County Sheriff Mildred Scott],” he said, noting, like Mulligan, he served with the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department before coming to Metuchen in 1992.
At the end of the swearing in ceremony, Irizarry read an email he received from a resident, whose life Mulligan saved as a firefighter at the Metuchen SportsPlex last year. The resident wished Mulligan the best in his new position and said the department is gaining an angel to watch over the borough, just like the resident gained a year ago.
The chief said Mulligan is a welcome addition to the force.
“He will do a great job for us,” he said.
