NORTH BRUNSWICK – Two police officers were promoted to higher ranks on Feb. 19.
Lt. Myron Cox and Sgt. Robert Powell took their respective oaths of office during the North Brunswick Township Council meeting.
Cox was hired by North Brunswick in 2000 as part of the New Jersey Department of Personnel Intergovernmental Transfer Program; he had worked for the City of Orange since 1995, Police Director Ken McCormick said during the meeting.
Cox was promoted to sergeant in 2014. He has served on patrol and as part of a task force for the Street Crime Anti-Assault Unit.
Cox majored in business management and marketing at North Carolina A&T State University. He completed emergency medical dispatch training and basic communications officer training. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Caldwell College and a master’s degree in education leadership, management and policy from Seton Hall University.
Cox received an individual citation in 2014 for his actions while investigating a motor vehicle crash on Route 1. While at the scene, he observed a car coming toward him with an unconscious driver and juvenile passenger. He grabbed on to the moving vehicle, opened the driver’s door and stepped on the brakes before anyone could get hurt or any properties damaged, McCormick said.
He has received numerous commendations, including the Medal of Merit and unit citations. He was the recipient of a lifesaving award for his response to a 911 call about a 2-year-old baby who was not breathing.
McCormick noted a testament to Cox’s character is the fact that so many police officers from Orange were in attendance at the council meeting, even though he has not worked there in almost 20 years.
“It takes a village,” Cox said. “I have a lot of support to keep me going.”
Powell is a U.S. Navy veteran, having supported Operation Desert Storm.
He was hired by North Brunswick in 2002 after joining the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office in 2001. He has been part of the Detective Bureau, Anti-Crime Unit, Patrol Division, and the Middlesex County Multi-Jurisdictional Gang Narcotics Task Force.
He has been a rangemaster, arson coordinator and counterterrorism coordinator.
He has received letters of appreciation, lifesaving awards and seven unit citations. He received an Exceptional Service Award in 2017 for sending a suspect to prison for 80 years, and for arrests after a motor vehicle stop in 2018 that secured drugs, cash and a handgun.
“You need to know a good supervisor to be a good supervisor, and in my career I have had many good supervisors,” Powell said.
