Mayor Wilda Diaz at the Swearing in Ceremony. *Photos Submitted

Press Release 10/31/19

PERTH AMBOY – Mayor Wilda Diaz proudly looked over the crowd gathered to honor five of the city’s finest, four police officers and one firefighter, during a swearing in ceremony October 28 in City Hall.

“All these men are here because they’ve givers, not takers,” said the mayor. “They give back to the community. They are the best of the best.”

Firefighter Carlos L. Gonzalez Jr., fresh from fighting a major fire the night before that destroyed six stores, was promoted to battalion chief. Gonzalez, who has served in the fire department since 2004, is the recipient of several awards including the Middlesex County 200 Club Award in 2019 for rescuing multiple, unconscious victims in a carbon monoxide incident. The lifelong Perth Amboy resident will combine his new position with his previous one as the department training officer. A former marine, Gonzalez served two tours of duty in Iraq and received the Distinguished Service Medal for his service.

Fire Chief Ed Mullen described working with the new battalion chief during the recent incident in Colonia when a plane hit a house. “We faced that together. Although we have been firefighters for a number of years already, we remain as motivated to do what we do.”

Longtime police officer Paul Cannamela is now the acting captain. He joined the Perth Amboy police in January of 1991 when he was assigned to the patrol division. During his time on patrol, he received a meritorious award and a life-saving award recognized by the City of Perth Amboy.

Captain Cannamela was also honored with a mayoral citation by Mayor Wilda Diaz in recognition of his outstanding act of kindness for an incident in January 2016. He rose through the ranks to sergeant where he served as a street supervisor for a squad of nine officers. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2007 and became an administrative lieutenant in 2016, assisting in the daily operations of for approximately 100 officers.  

New Lieutenant Christopher Joy is another Perth Amboy native son who joined the police department in 2005 after serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom as a member of the Army Reserve where he earned the Bronze Star. He began his career as a police officer in the patrol division before moving to the detective bureau in 2007. There, he investigated numerous homicides, robberies, burglaries, domestic violence assaults, aggravated assaults, thefts, car thefts and check fraud. Currently, he is assigned to the traffic bureau.

Lt. Joy is a certified radar operator, certified taser operator, and a certified field training officer. He was awarded with an honorary award and certificate of merit by the Recording Industry Association of America for investigative work that resulted in the conviction of pirating defendants. 

Newly promoted Sergeant Wilson Manuel Tavarez has been an officer with the Perth Amboy Police Department since 2013 in the patrol division. In that relatively short time, he has received several commendations and awards. He has served in the Juvenile Aid Bureau investigating crimes against children and was a liaison to local public schools. In 2017, he was assigned to the detective bureau where he was lead detective in major indictable crimes.  Most recently Sgt. Tavarez was assigned to The Office of Professional Standards. He is certified in crisis negotiations, advanced interview and interrogation, truth verification, testing and examination techniques, sex crimes Investigations, criminal interview and interrogation techniques and missing persons investigations.     

Born and raised in Perth Amboy, new Sergeant David Guzman joined his hometown police department in 2005 where he was assigned to the Uniformed Patrol Division. He joined the Special Investigations Bureau where he assisted and mentored his fellow detectives and conducted numerous vice cases alongside state, municipal, and federal agencies alike. He served with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Guns, Gangs,

Drugs, Task Force in 2016, leading numerous narcotic investigations throughout the county and state. In 2017, he was assigned to the Office of Professional Standards where he currently works. Presently he is the only drug recognition evaluator in the department.

Sgt. Guzman is the recipient of several commendations and awards including Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD), Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders Award, Detective of the year award, Narcotics officer of the year award, and 200 Club of Middlesex County Meritorious Award.

The Swearing in Ceremony.