NJDOC OFFICERS WHO LOCATED MISSING GIRL’S BODY RECOGNIZED AS “BEST IN THE BUSINESS”

(Source State of New Jersey Department of Corrections)

Joseph Nicholas and Bruce Myers, senior correction officers with the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC), who along with state trooper Bryan Trexler and their canines discovered the body of a missing Ocean County teenager last summer, were profiled in the June 2005 issue of “Corrections Today” – the magazine’s annual “Best in the Business” issue.

The magazine is published by the American Correctional Association (ACA), the oldest and largest international correctional association in the world. In bestowing this prestigious national distinction on Nicholas and Myers, the ACA highlighted their heroism from a plethora of nominations received from all over the United States.

In July 2004, Nicholas, Myers and Trexler, while off duty, met at Nicholas’ home one morning at 4 a.m. Accompanied by the canines, the three joined a search that had been in progress since 16-year-old Brittney Gregory had disappeared more than two weeks earlier. When the officers were almost certain they had located the girl, they alerted authorities, who unearthed the teen’s body from a two-foot-deep grave.

“It wasn’t like we were looking to get a prize or just trying to get newspaper clippings,” Nicholas told “Corrections Today.” “I set the whole thing up … not to be anybody’s hero, but because no one’s daughter deserves to be left in a hole.”

A full-length article, titled “Officers’ Off-Duty Work Leads to Missing Girl’s Body,” appears in the June issue of “Corrections Today.” The article can be accessed in the “Media Watch” section NJDOC Web site (www.state.nj.us/corrections) by locating the menu that appears on the left side of the Web site's home page and clicking "In the News." Several options will be available. Select “Media Watch.”

The magazine’s 2005 “Best in the Business” issue also recognized NJDOC Commissioner Devon Brown, as its “2005 Best in the Business” recipient for exceptional leadership.

In 2003, two members of the NJDOC custody staff were profiled in the magazine’s “Best in the Business” issue:

* Senior Correction Officer Fred Bernhardt of Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility, who was supervising an inmate labor detail when he used his CPR training to desperately try to save a man who had been involved in a Wave Runner accident with his 12-year-old son. Sadly, despite Bernhardt’s heroic efforts, the accident victim did not survive.
* SCO Kevin Williams of Riverfront State Prison was feted for a distinguished career that included commendations for establishing a Correctional Staff Fellowship at South Woods State Prison; for being named the Officer of the Year; and for his assistance at Ground Zero, the Newark International Airport and Fort Dix following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In addition, in January 2003, the ACA awarded Margaret Henderson, an assistant social worker supervisor at Northern State Prison in Newark, the $1,000 Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship in response to an essay Henderson submitted chronicling her contributions in carrying on Dr. King’s legacy.

Commissioner Brown was particularly proud of the ACA’s tributes to the NJDOC and its staff because, he said, “the most gratifying recognition a professional in any field can receive is from his or her peers.”