NEWARK, NJ — Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino has named acting Capt. Mitchell G. McGuire III as chief of county investigators for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, succeeding acting Chief Quovella Spruill, who is retiring effective Feb. 28.
McGuire will be formally sworn in on Feb. 26. He will officially assume the duties of chief on March 1.
“For more than 30 years, acting Chief Spruill has provided outstanding service to the Essex County community, working initially for the city of Newark and later for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. While acting Chief Spruill may now be leaving, we are fortunate to have an extremely talented command staff that she leaves behind. I never considered looking outside of our office to find her replacement,” Laurino said in a press release. “I selected acting Capt. McGuire because he will carry forward my vision of having our office be prepared to meet the challenges of 21st-century policing, with technical knowledge to build and secure our IT infrastructure, and investigative skills to harness the power of cyber forensics.”
McGuire came to the ECPO in January of 2011 after a lengthy career in the financial services sector in IT network architecture and engineering. He was hired during Laurino’s first term as acting prosecutor to help create a Cyber Crimes Unit. Since joining the office he has shared his technical expertise in the Adult Trials Section, Narcotics Task Force, Crime Scene/Technical Services Unit, Cyber Crimes/FACTS Unit and Special Prosecutions Unit. He also served as the county IT manager on an interim basis. His most recent assignment is the commanding officer of the Crime Scene Unit, FACTS Unit and Special Prosecutions Unit.
“He will bring a fresh perspective to this office,” Laurino said.
A Marine, he is a graduate of the Essex County Police Academy and a former deputy sheriff’s officer. McGuire attended Morehouse College in Atlanta. During his career in the private sector, he worked for Dow Jones and Company, Viaplex Communications, Predictive Systems, Nortel Networks, Radianz, Inc., and British Telecom. Born and raised in Newark, he later moved to South Plainfield and currently lives in Bridgewater with his wife and daughters.
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