BY GINNY RAUE
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Joseph Campbell
It’s unlikely that author Joseph Campbell knew Lisa Sargent, but he could have written that passage just for her. Sargent, a records clerk for the West Milford Police Department, is living the quote.
Sargent, 48, was raised in Wanaque and Vernon and moved to West Milford 29 years ago. Married to Robert for 25 years, they are the parents of two sons, 14 and 22 years of age.
She graduated from DePaul High School in 1984 and then attended Ramapo University for a few years with the hope of getting into early childhood or special education. She left college, but the dream lived on.
Years later, while Sargent was taking some on-line courses to continue her pursuit of the dream, life got in the way. Her husband’s land clearing business was negatively and greatly impacted by the Highlands Act. It was time for her to go out and get a job.
As a stay at home mom, she had occupied her time doing decorative folk art painting. At a holiday sale boutique in her home, she met a few ladies from the tax office and asked how one would get a job in town hall. She put her name in and eventually worked as a temp for the health department and tax office. Her break came when she was sent to the police department. They snapped her up.
“I think because I had been doing administrative work for my husband’s business, I had kept up on my computer skills and I’m outgoing,” she said.
That was seven years ago. Sargent couldn’t be happier on the job and she has gained a greater respect for the department and its personnel.
She and one other full time clerk, Pauline Manfredo, are responsible for classifying reports, submitting paperwork to state and federal agencies, answering discovery requests and processing fire arm and other applications, among other duties.
Technology has changed procedures and police officers, for instance, now write their reports on a computer.
“Pauline and I read them and check for clerical and coding errors,” she said.
Sargent finds working with West Milford’s police a pleasant experience.
“I like them a lot. They have a difficult and stressful job and I have a different understanding of them now," she said. "Being here, I see the administrative side of it. I believe the public doesn’t take into consideration the inner workings - all the rules and laws. The chief has to wear different hats; he has to please his force and the administration. They are working with less manpower than before and that’s unnerving at times, especially when there’s an accident and the call pulls them away from where they were.”
Her job varies from day to day and she sees a lot of the down side of life when people come to the police station, often in regards to upsetting scenarios.
“The hardest part for me is when I see young people who have taken the wrong path in life,” she said. Fatal accidents are very difficult for her to handle, as well.
She considers herself the “worrier” for the officers' safety and well-being and often brings them home-baked treats. There’s always candy available on her desk.
Sargent spends a lot of her free time with her family and riding quads in off-road parks is a shared adventure. She takes kick boxing classes and, while it may be factual, she refuses to act like the oldest student in the class.
A few years ago she took up another challenge and started a part-time freelance modeling career. She signed with an agency and has had several small jobs so far. But more revealing and defining is her reasoning behind this decision.
“I did it because I wanted my children to see that you’re never too old to pursue your dreams,” she said.
She was adamant that her modeling career will never replace her job at the West Milford Police Department.
“I’m not leaving until they kick me out of here.”
Sargent loves to cook and Italian dishes are her specialty. Her homemade manicotti is an old family recipe and a Christmas Eve dinner ritual - with an extra pan thoughtfully prepared for the men and women in blue.