FBI Appoints New Head For NJ Office

A veteran FBI agent who most recently headed the agency's Memphis division has been named the new head of operations in New Jersey.

FBI Director Robert Mueller III announced Monday that Aaron Ford will be the special agent in charge of the Newark division. Ford replaces Michael Ward, who retired in December.

A native of Atlanta, Ford joined the FBI in 1985, working on violent and organized crime matters for the St. Louis division. He transferred to New Jersey in 1989, holding a variety of positions in Newark before serving as the head of the Red Bank office.

His tenure in Newark was interspersed with assignments at FBI headquarters.

Newark is the seventh-largest FBI division. It has more than 300 agents and offices in five other New Jersey cities.

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