MB Police Department Images …

by Greg Kelly · Published February 25, 2025 · Updated March 21, 2025

The borough’s true blue …

Monmouth Beach Police Department origins date to April 1906 with the appointment of a police committee by the new borough council. The department’s record is one of strong and steady service to the borough and its citizens. The force has been led by 11 chiefs the over 75+ years. Here are some MBPD photos through the years:

Cops & Kids — Participants in the annual MBPD vs. MB School 8th Grade basketball game, March 2025.

Cop Stop — The original Monmouth Beach police kiosk at Ocean Avenue-Beach Road, early 1920s. It was the borough’s first police building.

Rub Out! — The first recorded murder in Monmouth Beach history took place in August 1932, according to the Long Branch Daily Record. A 21-year-old Brooklynite, Anthony Boccia (a murderer, gangster, racketeer, and rum-runner himself) was killed on Raccoon Island. Lured on false promise of earning $125/week for dispersing illegal booze smuggled there at Monmouth Beach, his body “was found in the marshes, bullet riddled in a pool of blood.” Louis “Pretty” Amberg, a career criminal and notorious Murder, Inc. gangster, was the suspected “trigger-man.” Briefly detained by local authorities, Amberg died much like he lived — from axe blows to the head and roasted in a car — in 1935.

“Top Cop” — MBPD Chief Daniel McManus is sworn in by Mayor David Stickle at borough hall as his proud family looks on, January 2022 (Jack Flaherty Photo). A US Navy veteran and Rowan University graduate, Chief McManus joined the borough police force in 1996.

Cop Shop — Recruiting for the MBPD at Monmouth University in WLB, November 2024.

PD Headquarters — Monmouth Beach Police Department at 14 Willow Avenue, Summer 2024 — MORE INFO.

Law & Order Man — Police Chief Richard L. Keller, 1990. The borough’s longest serving police chief (1972-1993) died in July 2011.

Old School — MBPD Chief Nicholas Woolley, 1960s. Born in Monmouth Beach in 1887, he led borough police from 1953 to 1956. He joined the MBPD in 1925 after World War I service with the US Coast Guard. Also a charter borough fireman, he died in January 1965.

Double Chief — Borough Police Chief George V. (Pat) Maney, 1964. He joined the force in 1929 and served as chief from 1956 to 1964 (earning $6,100 in his final year). He also served as MBFC chief in 1936. A fine amateur photographer and town history buff, he died in 1977.

“All Cop” — MBPD Chief Charles J. Hornbostel, Jr., 1972. He led the borough’s police force from 1964 until his death in 1972. According to an August 1967 Long Branch Daily Record profile, his father, Charles, Sr., was NYC police lieutenant in charge of the detective bureau at Centre Street headquarters. His dad also opened the Long Branch Pet Shop on Broadway in 1931 which the family ran until the 1970s.

Captain Cop — Aaron Rock (r) is sworn in as Captain for the Monmouth Beach Police Department, June 2022 (Jack Flaherty Photo). A Sea Bright native and a former fire chief there, Rock started his police career over 25 years ago working for the Englishtown and Bradley Beach PDs. In 2024, he retired from the MB police force after 20 years of service.

Steady Cop Retires — MBPD Captain Rock (c) with town officials and family at a retirement ceremony held in his honor at borough hall on Beach Road, February 2025. Citizens and colleagues recalled Aaron for “his calm demeanor and command of situations … always a welcome sight in any emergency.”

Lead Cops — MBPD Chiefs through the years. Richard White (2003-2009), Daniel McManus (2021-present), Thomas Walsh (2015-2021) and Drew Winans (2010-2014) during a Monmouth County Chiefs Association function, December 2022.

Police Presence — MBPD members at the borough school on Griffin Street for a training day, March 2024.

After the annual “Cops vs. Kids” basketball game played at the MB School, October 2018.

MBPD members borough officials, October 2022 (Jack Flaherty Photo).

Members of the Monmouth Beach Police Department and borough officials, June 2022 (Jack Flaherty Photo).

Great Gift — Borough philanthropist Jay W. Ross stands before the two buildings he donated to Monmouth Beach — the police station (l) and the library (r), 1992.

MBPD members at their Willow Avenue headquarters, 2020.

Crime Cycle — one of the ways the MBPD keeps the peace, May 2022.

Retiring MBPD Chief Tom Walsh (second from right) is thanked by Commissioner Tim Somers, Mayor David Stickle and Commissioner Larry Bolsch for his 6 years of service as the borough’s top cop, January 2022 (Jack Flaherty Photo).

Monmouth Beach Police Department at Borough Hall. January 2022 (Jack Flaherty Photo).

MB Police Department Humvee blocking a flooded Griffin Street by the MB School, 2018.

The Monmouth Beach PBA planted a memorial tree in honor of Chief Richard Keller, 2015. He was president of the Monmouth County Police Chiefs Association in 1982.

MBPD trading Cards, 2003.

MBPD at headquarters, 1997. Pat McConville is the chief.

Old police kiosk restored as a monument on Beach Road, 2010s.

MB Police Chiefs (1945-Today).

Former MBPD Chief Thomas C. Walsh in his office on Willow Avenue, 2020. A town cop since 1995 and chief from 2015 to 2021, Chief Walsh was the first borough police chief with a graduate degree — a Master’s from Fairleigh Dickinson U.

#1 Chief — MBPD Chief C. Edward Sweeney. The borough didn’t have a “chief of police” until 1945 when Sweeney was appointed to the post (pay was $150 per month). Born 1891 in Atlantic Highlands (where his father and brother both led that borough’s police), Sweeney was a 26-year MBPD veteran. He served until July 1953 and died in Sept. 1954.

Police Chief Sweeney with his cop car, 1940s.

MBPD New Headquarters Dedication, October 1990.

MBPD Headquarters: 14 Willow Avenue, Monmouth Beach, NJ 07750; 732-229-1313.

MBPD Men in Blue: Officer Tom Hennessey, Chief Joe Masica, Officer Bill Petrone and Officer Duffy Dotson, 1980s.

Richard L. Keller on his appointment as the new MBPD chief. From left: Commissioners Edwin Feste and Harold Peterson, Chief Keller and Mayor Sidney Johnson, September 1972.

MBPD Chiefs of Police, 2017. From left: Patrick McConville (1995-2002), Thomas Walsh (2015-2021), Drew Winans (2010-2014), and Richard White (2003-2009).

Drew Winans (r) is sworn-in as a new Long Branch police officer by city clerk Jennie DeFazio, 1979. After 14 years with the city force, he moved to the MBPD, where he would serve as chief from 2010 to 2014.

MBPD patrol car caught in Hurricane Sandy storm surge, October 2012.

MBPD officer with an electric police motorcycle — a first in NJ law enforcement, July 2021.

MBPD squad car, 1973.

MBPD officer outside old borough post office, 1930s.

“Marshal” Nicholas Woolley, 1930s.

MBPD’s new Polaris side-by-side, June 2021.

MBPD 2002 Ford Police Interceptor.

MBPD 2007 Ford Police Interceptor.

MBPD SUV, 2010s.

MBPD bicycle patrol, 2019.

MBPD Humvee, 2018.

MBPD Officer George “Pat” Maney on motorcycle at Robbin Street and Willow Avenue intersection, 1925.

MBPD Officers Pat Maney and Cartwright Lane on motorcycles, 1930s

MBPD, 2008.

MBPD, 2021.

MBPD officers Bill Petrone (l) and Rich White (r) being decorated, 1970s.

Police Story — Some MBPD history, Red Bank Daily Record, January 1979.

Charles J. Hornbostel, Jr. becomes borough police chief. APP, June 1964. A member of the MBPD since 1950, he served in the US Coast Guard during World War II and was decorated for bravery. Mayor Sidney Johnson remarked: “He ran a tough ship and stepped on a few toes though the years but he did an excellent job as policeman and chief.” Born in Brooklyn, he was also a charter member of the MB First Aid Squad. He died in September 1972 at age 67. He and his wife Louise raised two children in town.

Chief Richard L. Keller, 1970s.

MBPD Chief Tom Walsh (c) in his office with borough students, 2019.

MBPD, 2017.

McConville Legacy — Old borough police sign, 2015. Public service runs in the McConville family. Harry J. Woolley — grandfather to a future borough police chief and mayor — served a special police officer in town in the 1940s and 1950 while also being a US Coast Guard reservist. In the 1930s, he led the borough fire company as chief and as fair committee chairman. The longtime Monmouth Beach School custodian (where he also served on the school board), he died in June 1961.

MB Police Chiefs Ed Sweeney and Nick Woolley, 1950s.

MBPD officer operates a drone along the beach, 2019.

MBPD, 2000 (Jack Flaherty Photo).

MBPD, 2004 (Jack Flaherty Photo).

Coffee with a Cop at Booskerdoo in MB, 2018.

MBPD Chief Dick Keller in dunking booth at MB Friemen’s Fair, 1970s.

MB police officers after playing the MB School 8th grade, 1982.

Police Chief Dick Keller during an Easter celebration at borough hall, 1974.

MBPD headquarters on Willow Avenue, 2017.

Jay Ross (financier) and Richard Keller (police chief) at the borough’s new police facility on Willow Avenue, 1990.

Surrounded: DWI check-point at the MB Cultural Center parking lot on Ocean Avenue, 2018.

Former MB Police Chiefs Richard White and Drew Winans, 2000s.

MBPD in borough hall, 2020.

MBPD at MB School, 2019.

MBPD Patrolman Michael Murray, 1970s.

MBPD Patrolman Michael Murray, 1980s.

MBPD Patrolman Michael Murray, 1960s.

Plaque tribute to Sgt. Michael P. Murray of the MBPD in front of Borough Hall, 2020. (Jack Flaherty Photo). A US Army veteran, Michael served for 32 years with the borough police force and retired in 1999. He died in April 2011. He and his wife of 44 years Paula (Burns) Murray lived in Little Silver.