Earl Graves

Trustee – Chairperson, Director, Elizabeth Police Department

Director Earl J. Graves is the Chairman of the NOBLE New Jersey Chapter Trustee Board. He currently serves as the first African American Police Director of the Elizabeth, New Jersey Police Department. Elizabeth is the 4th most populous city in New Jersey. He manages a department of approximately 325 sworn law enforcement officers, 100 civilian personnel and a 48 million dollar budget.

Director Graves has served nearly three decades in law enforcement. In 2018, Director Earl J. Graves retired from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office in Newark, New Jersey as Deputy Chief of Detectives. During his tenure in the Prosecutor’s Office, he commanded and served in multiple units, including but not limited to Critical Incident Response Team, Homicide, Gang, Narcotics, Financial Crimes, Cyber Crimes, Crime Scene, Arson and Community Outreach his tenure in the Prosecutor’s Office, he commanded and served in multiple units, including the Homicide, Gang, Narcotics, Financial Crimes, Cyber Crimes, Crime Scene, Arson and Community Outreach has also served as a police officer in the East Orange, New Jersey Police Department and a Probation Officer in the Hudson County Probation Department in Jersey City, New Jersey. He has supervised multiple high profile investigations including but not limited to wiretaps and Federal Racketeering charges. Director Graves has been certified by the New Jersey Police Training Commission as a law enforcement instructor and qualified in New Jersey Superior Court as an Street Gang Culture Expert Witness. He has received numerous awards and commendations throughout his career recognizing his contributions to law enforcement and the community.

Director Graves is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he obtained a Bachelor’ Degree in Political Science and he also holds a Criminal Justice Education Certificate from the University of Virginia. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy #246 Session.

Director Graves is a member the International Association of Chiefs Police, Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and FBI National Academy Associates and National Forum for Black Public Administrators.