Chief James A. Sarkos

Chief James A. Sarkos serves as the Chief of the Atlantic City Police Department, a role he has held since October 1, 2020. He began his law enforcement career in 1995 as a Class One Special Law Enforcement Officer (SLEO) with the Ventnor Police Department, and later served as a Class Two SLEO with the Wildwood Police Department during the summers of 1996 through 1999. In October 1999, he was hired as a full-time police officer with the Linwood Police Department, before joining the Atlantic City Police Department in October 2000.

‍

Throughout his career with ACPD, Chief Sarkos has steadily risen through the ranks—promoted to Sergeant in 2006, Lieutenant in 2011, Captain in 2016, and Deputy Chief in 2018. He was named Interim Officer in Charge in 2020and became the permanent Chief in 2022. His leadership experience includes supervising in the Patrol Division, Criminal Investigations Section, and Special Investigations Section. Earlier in his career, he served as a patrol officer and vice detective, and was also a SWAT Team operator, team leader, and commander.

‍

Chief Sarkos has received numerous honors and awards, including 15departmental commendations and 12 PBA awards, among them three Life Saving Medals and Supervisor of the Year. His other accolades include a Valor Award from the American Legion, two Valor Awards and a Certificate of Commendation from the 200 Club, a General Assembly Citation from the State of New Jersey, and certificates of appreciation from Stockton University and the United States Secret Service. He was also the recipient of the Atlantic Cape Community College President's Distinguished Alumni Award.

He has led several major departmental initiatives as project manager, including:

• The Boardwalk Camera Project
• The ACPD Surveillance Center / Emergency Operations Center (A.C.H.I.L.E.S. –  Atlantic City Headquarters for Intelligence, Logistics, and Electronic Surveillance)
• Project P.A.C.T. (Protecting Atlantic City Together) camera-sharing initiative
• Risk Terrain Modeling (RTM)
• Project Medicine Drop
• The RAPID electronic pawn system
• Boardwalk target hardening project know as Project T.H.O.R. (Target Hardening Our Resort).

Chief Sarkos holds an Associate of Science in Criminal Justice from Atlantic Cape Community College, a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Stockton University, and a Master of Arts in Human Resources Training and Development from the Seton Hall University Police Graduate Studies Program, graduating with a 3.95 GPA. He is also a graduate of the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police West Point Command and Leadership Program and the Certified Public Manager Program through Rutgers University and the NJ Civil Service Commission.  He is a NJSACOP accredited Command Executive.  

In addition to his role as Chief, he serves as Vice Chair and founding member of the Atlantic City Police Foundation. He is also an active member of the Jewish Family Services Community Advisory Committee, the Coalition for a Safe Community, the FBI Newark Division Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Atlantic Cape Community College Criminal Justice Advisory Board and Stockton University MA in Criminal Justice Advisory Board.

Chief Sarkos has been invited to speak at numerous national and international events, including:

• The International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Convention in Chicago, IL
• The Evidence-Based Policing Conference at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA
• The First International Conference on Crime Risk Analysis in Elche, Spain
• Presented to members of congress in Washington, D.C., on the future of first responder technology

He is also a co-author of published reports in the Journal of Place Management and Development and in the Technology, Justice Evaluation Journal.  He has also appeared in Season 2, Episode 5 of National Geographic’s Break through, which featured the ACPD’s collaboration with Rutgers University on Risk Terrain Modeling.