‘Here we are 46 years later’ -- Top law enforcement discuss continued pursuit of cop killer

Two of New Jersey’s top law enforcement officials spoke this morning as National Police Week continues about protecting officers, as well as their continued pursuit of one of their most wanted -- Joanne Chesimard.

News 12 Staff

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May 16, 2019, 4:25 PM

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Updated 1,823 days ago

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Two of New Jersey’s top law enforcement officials spoke this morning as National Police Week continues about protecting officers, as well as their continued pursuit of one of their most wanted -- Joanne Chesimard.

During National Police Week, the nation remembers and mourns those who lost their lives in the line of duty.

FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Gregory Ehrie, as well as New Jersey State Police Col. Patrick Callahan spoke about not just the continuing concern for line-of-duty deaths, but also the ongoing pursuit of Chesimard.

Chesimard is one of the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists following the shooting death of State Trooper Werner Foerster on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick back in 1973.

Chesimard continues to escape arrest while living in Cuba, where she fled following her successful, Nov. 1979 escape from what was then the Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, Hunterdon County.

“Here we are 46 years later, she’s been gone for 40 of those 46 living freely in Cuba,” says Col. Patrick Callahan.

Agent Ehrie says just recently an Essex County man who fled to Cuba after he was accused of homicide was returned to New Jersey with the help of the Cuban government within 48 hours.

Both state police and the FBI are hopeful they will soon see the return of Chesimard to the states.

But it’s certainly not just Chesimard.

Although her return has been a constant for decades in law enforcement, there are many other cases of wanted fugitives in which officers were killed in the line of duty.

The officers want to make sure they are never forgotten for the sacrifices they made serving their communities.

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