NORTH WILDWOOD – The City Council has promoted three patrolmen to sergeant, including two native sons.

The three are Vincent DeRitis, Mark Santiago and Joseph Kopetsky; their promotions were approved at the council’s Sept. 16 meeting.

DeRitis grew up in North Wildwood, attended Margaret Mace Elementary School and is a 2014 graduate of Cape May Technical High School.

He served as a member of the North Wildwood Beach Patrol from 2012 to 2018, when he was appointed a full-time city police officer. The same year, he graduated magna cum laude from Stockton University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a concentration in homeland security.

He has served as a patrol officer and, more recently, a detective. Since 2024, he was assigned as a detective overseeing training and recruitment for the department. He also serves as a physical fitness and N.J. Criminal Code instructor at the Cape May County Police Academy as well as a CPR and radar instructor.

DeRitis previously served as the treasurer for PBA Local 59.

In 2021 he was awarded the 200 Club Valor Award for exceptional courage and valor in the line of duty, and in 2023 he was a recipient of the Chief Anthony Sittineri Officer of the Year Award.

Holding the Bible and pinning on his badge was his wife, Mackenzie DeRitis.

Santiago also grew up in North Wildwood, attending St Ann’s Regional School, and in 2005 he graduated from Cape May Technical High School, where he took classes in the law and public safety program.

In 2006 he was hired as a seasonal dispatcher for the department and worked two summers. In 2008 he was hired as a special law enforcement officer-class II, and he worked two summers before being brought on as a full-time class II. He was hired as a full-time police officer in March 2010.

Santiago was named as a seasonal boardwalk sergeant during the summers of 2014 and 2020, and during the 2025 summer season he was a seasonal patrol sergeant.

He served as the CPR/first aid instructor for the department and has been a drug recognition expert since 2015. He is a member of the department’s honor guard and is a field training officer, having trained many of the department’s officers during their first year with department. He is also a defensive tactics instructor.

Santiago has received four M.A.D.D. Distinguished Service Awards for the most DWI enforcements, three lifesaving awards and a merit award. He has been nominated for Officer of the Year three times.

Holding the Bible was his wife, Maria, and pinning on his badge was his son, Nico.

Kopetsky, a 2006 graduate of Spotswood High School in Middlesex County, graduated from West Virginia University in 2010 with a degree in criminology and investigations.

He was hired in 2012 as a class II, and in 2014 he was hired as a full-time police officer. He has been a detective since 2021.

Kopetsky has represented North Wildwood at the Cape May County Police Academy as a physical fitness instructor, and he previously served on the Cape May County Mobile Field Task Force.

He is a recipient of two lifesaving awards, two Distinguished Unit Citation awards and one Distinguished Service Award. He was the recipient of the Chief Sittineri Officer of the Year Award in its inaugural year, 2021, and again in 2024.

Kopetsky has also served as the department’s PBA representative and as the vice president of PBA Local 59.

Holding the Bible was his mother, Joann, and pinning on his badge were his wife, Devon, and daughter, Brielle.

Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.