Dover Council Expected to Dispute Public Safety Director Ruling

Legal challenges have been filed since the Council voted to replace Police Chief Jonathan Delaney.

Dover Police Chief Jon Delaney is fighting Council's plan to hire a Director of Public Safety. (Photo/DOVERNOW.com)

By Mario Marroquin

Dover Mayor James P. Dodd is expected to introduce a modified ordinance at tonight’s Town Council meeting to replace Ordinance 30-2025, which was intended to create a Director of Public Safety to replace Dover Police Chief Jonathan Delaney and Dover Fire Chief Paul McDougall.

Last week, Superior Court Assignment Judge Stuart A. Minkowitz denied Dover's motion to dissolve the temporary restraining order against Ordinance 30-2025. The ruling ensures that the temporary hold placed on the ordinance when the Morris County Prosecutor’s office filed its lawsuit remains in effect.

The judge's decision to maintain the status quo reinforces the legal action by the office of Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll and state law enforcement advocacy groups, who are challenging the recently passed legislation. The lawsuit pits the prosecutor’s office, together with the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, against most of the town council and Mayor James Dodd. The case is now scheduled to proceed to full oral arguments on November 17.

Carroll filed a lawsuit against the town, pinning the prosecutor’s office together with the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police against most of the town council and Mayor James Doodd. 

The lawsuit was filed in the New Jersey Superior Court on October 14, nearly a month after his office sent a letter to the town council, mayor, and business administrator expressing its concerns with Ordinance 30-2025. 

The complaint filed states that while the county prosecutor has no issue with the appointment of a public safety director, the role of police department executive must be vested in a sworn officer and not a civilian. 

Public safety directors may not lead day-to-day operations, including employing, dispatching or discharging sworn officers under the county prosecutor’s interpretation of state statutes, which is incompatible with the text of the ordinance that was passed on second reading at the end of September.

Judge Minkowitz, the judge appointed to oversee the case, issued an order to show cause the same day that the lawsuit was filed. 

Attorneys for the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the county prosecutor’s lawsuit. They requested to argue the court’s motion to show cause and a motion to vacate that was filed by attorneys working on behalf of the town. 

Dodd did not comment about last week’s ruling, but did address the Prosecutor’s pending lawsuit at the October 14 Council meeting:

“[The] town has been the victim of lawfare at the hands of the Morris County Prosecutor,” he said. “What is most unsettling about this turn of events is the unprecedented behavior of the county prosecutor. The role of a county prosecutor is to work with municipal police departments to enforce the law, not to second-guess the legislative decisions of elected local officials.

“By choosing litigation instead of cooperation,” he continued, “Prosecutor Carroll has overstepped his authority and created a clear conflict that disqualifies him from continuing to oversee matters.”

Chief Delaney declined to comment after the October 24 ruling. His attorney, Richard Flaum, said, “We believe the court’s ruling was 100 percent correct.”The Prosecutor’s office followed the policy of not discussing ongoing litigation.

Longtime Council member Sandra Wittner, who voted against Ordinance 30-2025 twice, again voiced her opposition.

“When will this administration realize that it is not possible that everyone else is always wrong?” she asked. “This is not some big conspiracy. The fact that a judge issued an immediate order to show cause, stating that there could be ‘irreparable harm’ from enacting Ordinance 30-2-25, deepens my concerns regarding Mayor Dodd’s actions and motives.”

Tonight’s Council meeting starts at 6 p.m. Click here to VIEW THE AGENDA and sign up for the VIRTUAL MEETING.