SPOTLIGHT ON LAW ENFORCEMENT -Nancy Petrara-Stafyleras
Detective First Grade (DFG) Nancy Petrara-Stafyleras has been in law enforcement for more than 25 years and is currently a member of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office in Paterson. She is assigned to the Intelligence/Homeland Security Unit, serving as the County Counterterrorism Coordinator (CTC).
DFG Petrara-Stafyleras is currently the liaison for her agency's information sharing efforts, managing all criminal intelligence, and providing analytical and investigative support to law enforcement partners. As the CTC, DFG Petrara-Stafyleras manages all counterterrorism and suspicious activity leads pertaining to Passaic County. She has been recognized as an expert in Gang Intelligence and Gang Identification by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Passaic County vicinage and has completed several gang expert reports that have been utilized in New Jersey State Superior Court proceedings. To date, she has conducted hundreds of presentations on gangs and bias crimes to a wide array of audiences, such as law enforcement agencies, community groups, religious leaders, and schools. She was previously assigned to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and served as the Passaic County Bias Crime Officer for more than seven years, witnessing firsthand how critical it is to understand threats posed by bias crimes and criminal street gangs, which may have potential nexuses to counterterrorism efforts and investigations.
DFG Petrara-Stafyleras began her law enforcement career within the ranks of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). She was last assigned to the Detective Bureau's Gang Division, where she conducted gang-related investigations and facilitated investigative and intelligence support for a 300-member division. During her tenure with the NYPD, she was a first responder at the September 11 terrorist attacks, and spent months after involved in the rescue, recovery, and investigative efforts in New York City. This event significantly impacted her career, driving her motivation to learn and understand more about the threats to our homeland in order to maximize efforts for keeping communities safe. DFG Petrara-Stafyleras stated, "My strength in being able to perform my assigned duties to the best of my abilities comes from the vast network of individuals I have been so fortunate to obtain and continue to foster, as well as the ability to analyze information from a multifaceted approach to maximize output of investigations. Making the cross from New York to New Jersey was definitely made easier due to the great relationships I already had established, giving me the opportunity to transition to communicate and investigate cases effectively, because you are only as successful as the individuals you surround yourself with and continue learn from."