A New Jersey State Police trooper died Sunday while training to join an elite police unit, authorities announced.
Marcellus Bethea, 32, was training at New Jersey State Police headquarters in Ewing, Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement.
Bethea “embodied honor, duty and fidelity in its high form every day and in everything he did,” Murphy said Monday, referencing the New Jersey State Police code. “An investigation into his death is underway. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and fellow troopers at this difficult time.”
Police provided few details on Bethea’s death, but New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said he was training to join the state police Technical Emergency and Mission Specialists (TEAMS) unit at the time.
The state police website describes the unit as “a full-time emergency response unit prepared to handle extraordinary police emergencies.” The selection process is “the most demanding among any” in the force, and requirements include a “physical agility test, background investigation, oral interview, and the successful completion of the physically and mentally demanding underwater recovery course.”
“TEAMS maintains an extreme training regimen which is focused on the many disciplines it possesses,” according to the site.
Bethea worked years to become a New Jersey state trooper, attending the department’s youth outreach program in 2008 while he was a student at Burlington Regional High School, according to Gov. Murphy. He graduated from the state police academy as part of the 156th class in 2016.
“State troopers, and other members of law enforcement, enter their profession knowing its risk but put themselves on the line because they believe in serving the residents of our state,” Platkin said. “We owe Trooper Bethea our deepest gratitude and can honor his memory by living our lives with his same reverence for honor, duty and fidelity.”