At the November 13th meeting of the Springfield Township Committee, Auxiliary Police Officer Ronnie Mitnitsky was recognized for serving 50 years with the Springfield Auxiliary Police. He was presented with a Joint Legislative Resolution from the State of New Jersey General Assembly & Senate.
The resolution was presented by Deputy Mayor Maria Vassallo and Emergency Management Coordinator Scott Seidel. Seidel commented to the Patriot, “While the organization existed dating back to the mid 1950's, after the growing civil unrest in the country in 1966 & 1967, the Township decided to re-organize the unit. It would have more focus on training and create a more professional organization to better serve the Township. Officer Mitnitsky was in line to serve on day one. During his career, Civil Defense would become Emergency Management and the Police Reserve, the Auxiliary Police.
During his 50 Years he performed almost 10,000 volunteer hours of service to the township. While the minimum annual duty requirement is 96 hours, Officer Mitnitsky routinely exceeded that amount, doubling it and sometimes tripling it. He took training classes in advanced Auxiliary Police Procedures, Accident Investigation, Defense driving, Domestic disturbance & child abuse.
He received numerous commendations, which include one from the Springfield Police Department for responding in the middle of a cold and rainy night to direct traffic at a major accident on Route 22 and one from the Springfield and Mountainside Police Departments for apprehending one of four suspects who were stopped on Route 22 in a stolen car and fled the scene. In 1980 he received the Township of Springfield's "Citizenship Award" and in 1998 he received the coveted "Auxiliary Officer of the Year" award. He was promoted to the rank of Corporal, the rank at which he retired. He was made a "Life Member" of the Auxiliary Police in January of 2016 and was the last of the "original" members still in the unit from 1968. Although retired from the Auxiliary Police, he still responds to all events in which Emergency Management has a role. Corporal Mitnitsky embodies the spirit of community service."
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L to R
Emergency Management Coordinator Scott Seidel, Alan and Ellen Lubiner (Sister and Brother-in-law) Corporal Mitnitsky, Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Wally Schultz and Deputy Mayor Maria Vassallo
