CHIEF TALK: Episode #23 | Chief Talk Live from Atlantic City
Chief Ed Kerr
Edward Michael Kerr, Jr. – the president of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, is the eldest of three children born to Edward Kerr, Sr. and Bridget Kerr. Chief Kerr and his wife Megan presently live in Spring Lake with their five children – Maggie, Maura, Edward, Tess, and Patrick.
Ed was raised and educated in Clifton, NJ and graduated from St. Mary’s High School in Rutherford in 1992. He then went on to play College Football for the State University of New York at Albany. During his college years he was a member of the Albany chapter of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and was elected as an off campus student representative for the university. He graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology.
In 1994 Ed applied and was accepted as a Class I Special Police Officer in Spring Lake. After college he was hired by the Brielle Police Department and subsequently graduated from the Ocean County Police Academy where he received the Academic Award. He was hired as a full time Patrol Officer in Spring Lake in 1999. He served as the DARE officer at HW Mountz Elementary School and St. Catharine’s Elementary School for ten years. He was also the juvenile officer and volunteered his time as a basketball coach at HW Mountz for seven years. In 2009 and in a few years that followed, Ed began participating in the Police Unity Tour, riding his bicycle from New Jersey to Washington DC to honor fellow fallen officers. In the spring of 2010 Ed was promoted to Sergeant followed by his appointment to Chief of Police in February of 2011.
In June 2023, Ed was sworn in as the President of the New Jersey State Chiefs Association. He is a member of the Monmouth County Police Chiefs Association and represents the Chiefs on the State of New Jersey Human Relations Council. He is a member and past president of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of the Jersey Shore as well as a member of the Jersey Shore Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh. In June of 2014 Ed graduated from the prestigious FBI National Academy. Also in 2014 he was awarded the Protect and Serve Award by the Irish Echo Newspaper for actions taking in response to Super Storm Sandy. He has received the 200 Club of Monmouth County Valor Award, is a 2-time recipient of the PBA Local 50 Lifesaving Award, and has received both the Lifesaving and Meritorious Service Award from the Borough of Spring Lake.
