Page 24 - midJersey Business - April 2015

2015 Annual Dinner

WINNERS

Citizen Joe

O
FORMER MERCER COUNTY PROSECUTOR EARNS TOP AWARD BY THE CHAMBER by Mike Bederka

n his second oicial day of retirement back at his legacy and what the future may hold (which
as Mercer County prosecutor, 70-year- might include just a little extra golf ).

old Joseph L. Bocchini Jr. is sitting in
his kitchen enjoying a cup of cofee and
You’ve obviously had a long, successful career.
watching the Golf Channel. Any idle Are there any accomplishments that you’re
time will be leeting, though.
particularly proud of?
This month he’s going back to work as of counsel with

the Hamilton law irm Kalavruzos, Mumola, Hartman, There are so many good things that have happened since
and Lento LLC—just another step in an impressive career I became prosecutor. A lot of them are attributable to the

that stretches back decades.
great staf I had, including assistant prosecutors, investi-
gative staf, and support staf. When I was sworn in, I was

concerned that the oice didn’t relect the community
from a diversity standpoint. To that extent, we made

signiicant improvements in the promotion of minorities.
When you’re dealing with an urban center as the brunt of

your caseload, you need to have people in the oice that
relect that community as much as possible. In addition,

in my irst year and a half, I was able to obtain $6,000
in raises across the board for my assistant prosecutors,

which allowed us to retain talent.

Can you detail some of your anti-gang initiatives and

why you put this at the forefront during your tenure?

When I took oice, it was apparent there was a signiicant
lack of conformity with gang issues. When we created the

gang interdiction task force in 2005, it brought together
the rim communities of Trenton, Hamilton, Ewing, and Among his various job titles: assistant Mercer County

Lawrence, and then it expanded over the years to include counsel, municipal prosecutor for East Windsor and
other municipalities. As a result, there were seizures of Washington townships, and the municipal attorney for

hundreds of irearms and hundreds of arrests for illegal Lawrence Township. Bocchini represented the 14th Dis-
irearms and narcotics distribution. In addition, there has trict in the state’s General Assembly, was assistant counsel

been a better working interagency relationship between for the State Senate Democratic Majority, and worked as a
our oice, the municipalities, state police, and the attor- municipal court judge in Hamilton Township prior to be-

ney general’s oice.
ing named county prosecutor in 2003, a title which earned
him a noted distinction.

Why did you push for the establishment of the He became the irst full-time prosecutor in Mercer
County history to serve a second ive-year term, and while
Mercer County Police Academy?
his last term technically expired in June 2013, he contin-

There wasn’t consistent uniform training of Mercer ued in this role until February 2015.
County police oicers. A lot of local departments had to Bocchini, who will be honored as Citizen of the Year at

send their recruits to police academies in other counties
the upcoming MIDJersey Chamber Annual Dinner, looks

business
22 midJersey