EMERSON — School Resource Officer Sean Croal has been honored with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office School Resource Officer Excellence Award, recognizing his wide-ranging work with students, staff, and the community.
Croal, a longtime member of the Emerson Police Department, serves in multiple roles within the agency, including Bias Crimes Liaison Officer, LEAD instructor, firearms instructor, and member of the Bergen County Rapid Deployment Team. For the past two years, he has also served as vice president of the Bergen County Juvenile Officers Association.
Lt. Ryan Sokerka, who recommended Croal for the award, said the honor reflects the officer’s “talent, experience, work ethic, and love for what he does for our agency, community, and our county.”
Croal is known for spearheading juvenile-focused community policing programs that have strengthened ties between law enforcement and local families. Among them:
- Bicycle Safety Day, which included lectures for riders of all ages, a cone agility and handling course, helmet and bike safety inspections, and serial-number stamping for lost or stolen bikes. The event concluded with a raffle for two helmets and a bicycle donated by the Emerson Police Community Outreach Unit.
- A pitching and putting golf clinic for sixth grade students, held with support from Bergen County staff who ran chipping and putting lessons. The program was designed to build confidence and rapport between students and police while introducing them to the fundamentals of the sport.
- Walk, Bike, and Roll to School events at both elementary schools, for which Croal coordinated temporary road closures to give students a safe route. The Emerson Jr./Sr. High School marching band joined the events, leading families along the route.
Beyond community engagement, Croal has focused heavily on school safety and emergency preparedness. He developed a comprehensive Critical Incident Response Guide for the Emerson Police Department, drawing on lessons learned from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting.
He then worked with school administrators and patrol officers to test and refine the plan through multi-tiered evacuation drills at all three Emerson schools—complete with timed movement of students and staff to buses and other transport.
Given Emerson’s small size and limited space for large-scale evacuations, Croal is now collaborating on a countywide reunification and evacuation strategy to support future critical incident response planning.
“His dedication is evident as he continues to go above and beyond to enhance all the programs he is involved in,” Sokerka wrote.
Chief Mark Savino and the department congratulated Croal on receiving the county honor.