Jerry Speziale

Jerry Speziale is an American law enforcement officer who worked undercover in the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, assigned to a special group targeting the Cal Drug Cartel in Colombia, South America. Speziale met Paul Lir Alexander, a high level informant that taught him the intricacies of the South American drug trade. Alexander introduced Speziale into the underworld of the cartel. Speziale, Alexander and the members of his group, "Group 93 were able to infiltrate the infamous Cali Drug Cartel. In July 1992, he was responsible for capturing and arresting the largest Cali drug cartel leader ever prosecuted under New York State law. Speziale captured the cartel boss in the Hilton Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland and extradited him back with the assistance of the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutors Office. Speziale was ultimately betrayed by Alexander. [1] http://www.rcfp.org/news/2005/0525-pri-identi.html [2] http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/287/spezialeonoreilly.shtml [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lir_Alexander [4] http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/without-a-badge-jerry-speziale/1005612881 [5] http://newsday/nation/drugcartelboss/

Speziale currently serves as the Deputy Police Superintendent of the NY - NJ Port Authority Police Department a law enforcement agency in New York and New Jersey, the duties of which are to protect the public, travelers and tenants at all facilities owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and to enforce state and city laws at all the facilities. The Port Authority Police Department is owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a bi-state agency running the (4) bridges, (2) tunnels, (5) airports, world trade center, (2) of the world’s largest bus terminals, PATH rapid - rail transit system and seaport in the Port of New York and New Jersey. The Port Authority Police Department is the 24th largest police force in the United States. [6] http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/expassaic_county_sheriffs_mov.html^{[dead link]} [7] http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/kerik_pal_getting_top_pa_cop_post_2n2gZH1uzHqUGfG3BDg7uL

Speziale began his police career at the New York City Police Department as a patrol officer in the south Bronx where he was shot and wounded in 1986. In 1987, Speziale was assigned as an undercover officer to the NYPD’s Special Anti Crack Unit, a new unit to combat the scourge of crack in New York City in the late 1980s. In 1989, Speziale was promoted to Detective and assigned as a an undercover agent with United States Drug Enforcement Administration, where his career led him around the world conducting overseas drug smuggling operations and raids with the DEA. Speziale rose through the detective ranks and in 1997 retired from the NYPD at the rank of Detective 1st Grade. [8] http://www.northjersey.com/news/081010_Passaic_County_Sheriff_Speziale_resigns.html

Speziale went on to be elected the 8th Sheriff of Passaic County, New Jersey after winning an election on November 2, 2001, against Acting Sheriff Ronald Fava a former Passaic County Prosecutor. Speziale, a Democrat, was the first democratic to be elected Sheriff in Passaic County in fifty years. [9] http://www.politickernj.com/tags/joanne-graziano [10] http://www.politickernj.com/tags/ronni-nochimson [11] http://www.ajjan.com/2006/11/sheriff-jerry-speziale-responds-to-my.html [12] http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/0306/chapter8.htm

In 2003, Jerry Speziale published his book, "Without A Badge." The book detailed the activities and methods of how he and an undercover informant, Paul Lir Alexander brought down some of the biggest drug lords, including Alexander himself. Alexander was enraged that his dirty laundry was now being published. Paul Alexander actually sued Speziale under the pretense that the book violated his privacy. From the lawsuit:

Speziale explains how he was able to infiltrate powerful drug distribution cartels and dupe them into believing that he was a trustworthy member of the illegal drug-importing network. In fact, Speziale and the others involved in the undercover investigation would arrange for the shipments to be seized, and then attempt to foist off blame on other members of the importation network. This casting of blame was critical to the success of the undercover activities because the people found to be responsible for drug seizures were no longer trusted and were liable to be killed by the Colombian drug lords running the cocaine cartels. In his book, Speziale describes how Alexander’s sophistication and familiarity with the customs of these drug lords and the distribution network were critical to the success of the government’s undertakings.

In the end the courts ruled that Speziale’s book did not violate Alexander’s privacy, and the case was dismissed. Towards the end of his sentence, he came under investigation in March 2005 on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Sheriff Jerry Speziale of Passaic County, New Jersey. Speziale and Federal Agents from the DEA raided his partner’s Florida home. No charges were filed and Alexander was deported to Brasil and transported by US Marshal’s in September 2005. Alexander was confined to jail in Minas Gerais, Brazil for drug dealing charges and was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 25 years. While in the federal correctional institution in Jessup, Georgia, the Brazilian Federal Police claim that Alexander directed major drug dealing operations between 1997-1999 while he was a Federal prison inmate. They allege that some 5 tons of cocaine was seized as well as 24 aircraft. In July 2009, Paul Lir Alexander escaped from custody in Brazil after walking away from a prison work detail and his whereabouts remain unknown. Alexander is an international fugitive. [13] http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2006/01/bogotá-isnt-only-dark-trail-us-justice-system [14] http://www.amazon.com/Without-Badge-Undercover-Deadliest-Organization/dp/0758204094

Education

Speziale graduated from Wayne Hills High School in1978. In 2003, he graduated from the University of Louisville’s, Southern Police Institute, 37th Command Officers Academy. In 2006, he graduated from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government for state and local government officials. In 2007, he graduated from the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development School. In 2008, he graduated, cum laude from Caldwell College with a B.S. in Criminal Justice. He also received a M.A.S. Graduate Degree in Administrative Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2010. Additionally, Speziale received an Honorary P.H.D. in Leadership from Yeshua University in Anaheim, California. [9] www.linkedin.com/pub/jerry-speziale/9/825/bb9 [10] www.linkedin.com/title/police+superintendent/

Personal

Speziale was born in Paterson, New Jersey and raised in the suburban town of Wayne, New Jersey to Gerardo Speziale, a barber, and Barbara Speziale, a paralegal for a municipal court judge. In 1985, Speziale married his childhood sweetheart, Maggie Reinhardt. Speziale is the father of Francesca, Jerry and Paige. [15] http://www.patersondiocese.org/moreinfo.cfm?Web_ID=1679 [16] http://www.facebook.com/pages/Without-a-Badge-Jerry-Speziale/115000698513676

Attacking Crime through Innovative Policing

As the Sheriff of Passaic County, Speziale aggressively pursued gangs, crime, drugs and pedophiles on the Internet. He aired public safety commercials on television with funds seized from drug dealers to introduce the first “Text for Tip” anonymous cellular texting and Internet based crime reporting system in the State of New Jersey. The system proved to be extremely effective. The new technology assisted in solving homicides, residential burglaries and numerous quality of life crimes throughout Passaic County. This resulted in a marked decline of crime. During Speziale’s tenure the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department’s Narcotics Bureau seized more than one hundred million dollars from drug dealers in conjunction with the DEA. Speziale designed a program to buy state of the art police equipment and patrol vehicles for his agency and the other sixteen municipal police departments within Passaic County. Speziale became well known by the community for this process because every county police vehicle had a bumper sticker on the rear, which stated, “This vehicle was purchased with money confiscated from a drug dealer, Sheriff Jerry Speziale.” [17] http://www.northjersey.com/news/081010_Passaic_County_Sheriff_Speziale_resigns.html [18] http://www.pcsheriff.org/speziale

Newest Police Technology - Automatic License Plate Readers

In July 2009, Speziale introduced the newest technology available to the department and purchased Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) capable of reading hundreds of vehicle license plates while randomly patrolling the county roads. These automatic license plate readers enhanced the ability to locate motor vehicle violations to fugitive warrants while patrolling the streets and resulted in monumental arrests. [19] http://www.northjersey.com/news/81084547_Eyes_on_the_street_.html

Community Involvement

Speziale created the Jerry Speziale Community Outreach foundation that raised thousands of dollars every annually to support the community and crime prevention programs for senior citizens and the youth. The organization provided college scholarships, turkeys for the needy on Thanksgiving, and thousands of toys on Christmas for families in need. In 2010, after Speziale left for the Port Authority the foundation board changed the name to be generic and created the “Sheriff’s Outreach Foundation.” [20] http://www.wmdems.org/news.html [21] http://www.passaicgearup.org/college/scholarships-2/scholarships-offered-from-phs [22] www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/lgccc/county/passaic.pdf [23] http://service.govdelivery.com/docs/NJPASSA/NJPASSA_48/NJPASSA_48_20080814_000653_en.pdf

Affiliations

Since becoming Deputy Superintendent, Speziale has served as a board member on the Saint Joseph’s Medical Center Foundation, fifteen year member of the International Chief's of Police Association, ten year member of the New Jersey Sheriff's Association, New Jersey PBA Silver Lifetime member and longstanding membership with the NYPD Detective Endowment Association, Italian American Police Society of New Jersey and New Jersey Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association. [24] http://www.stjosephshealth.org/images/stories/PDFs/DonorsandVolunteers/2009SJWHNewsletterrevised.pdf

References

Paul Lir Alexander http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lir_Alexander

Brazilian Federal Police http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Federal_Police

Passaic County http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passaic_County,_New_Jersey

DEA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Administration

Minas Gerais, Brazil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minas_Gerais

Arrest of Informant Lawsuit http://www.rcfp.org/news/2005/0525-pri-identi.html

1st Amendment Rights of Informants http://www.rcfp.org/news/2005/0525-pri-identi.html

Jerry Speziale - Drug Wars http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/287/spezialeonoreilly.shtml

Without-Badge http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/without-a-badge-jerry-speziale/1005612881

Sheriff Jerry Speziale http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/expassaic_county_sheriffs_mov.html^{[dead link]}

Jerry Speziale http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/kerik_pal_getting_top_pa_cop_post_2n2gZH1uzHqUGfG3BDg7uL

Deputy Superintendent Jerry Speziale http://www.northjersey.com/news/081010_Passaic_County_Sheriff_Speziale_resigns.html

Jerry Speziale vs Ron Fava Election http://www.politickernj.com/tags/joanne-graziano

Speziale Election http://www.politickernj.com/tags/ronni-nochimson

Jerry Speziale http://www.ajjan.com/2006/11/sheriff-jerry-speziale-responds-to-my.html

Sheriff Jerry Speziale http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/0306/chapter8.htm

Drug Cartel Paul Lir Alexander http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2006/01/bogotá-isnt-only-dark-trail-us-justice-system

Without a Badge http://www.amazon.com/Without-Badge-Undercover-Deadliest-Organization/dp/0758204094

Speziale Family Information http://www.patersondiocese.org/moreinfo.cfm?Web_ID=1679

Author - Speziale Without a Badge http://www.facebook.com/pages/Without-a-Badge-Jerry-Speziale/115000698513676

Jerry Speziale Drug Money http://www.northjersey.com/news/081010_Passaic_County_Sheriff_Speziale_resigns.html

Vehicles Confiscated Funds http://www.pcsheriff.org/speziale

Plate Readers http://www.northjersey.com/news/81084547_Eyes_on_the_street_.html

Community Outreach http://www.wmdems.org/news.html

Community Outreach Scholarships http://www.passaicgearup.org/college/scholarships-2/scholarships-offered-from-phs

Jerry Speziale Community Outreach Foundation www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/lgccc/county/passaic.pdf

Community Outreach http://service.govdelivery.com/docs/NJPASSA/NJPASSA_48/NJPASSA_48_20080814_000653_en.pdf

St Joseph's Hospital Affiliation http://www.stjosephshealth.org/images/stories/PDFs/DonorsandVolunteers/2009SJWHNewsletterrevised.pdf

External links

Paul Lir Alexander http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lir_Alexander

Brazilian Federal Police http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Federal_Police

Passaic County http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passaic_County,_New_Jersey

DEA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Administration

Minas Gerais, Brazil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minas_Gerais

Arrest of Informant Lawsuit http://www.rcfp.org/news/2005/0525-pri-identi.html