Dover Town Council Votes to Cut Police, Fire Chiefs

Chief Jonathan Delaney is reviewing legal options to fight department restructuring.

A small group of protestors gathered during the Sept. 29 Dover Town Council meeting. (Photo/DOVERNOW)

By Mario Marroquin

Dover’s Town Council voted 6-3 Monday night to adopt Ordinance 30-2025, officially eliminating the roles of Chief of Police Jonathan Delaney and Fire Department Chief Paul McDougall, creating a new Department of Public Safety. A civilian hire will lead the new consolidated department.

Council members voted for the change, despite warnings from residents and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office that the move will deepen the already extensive legal battles.

A small group of concerned Dover residents banged pots and pans outside Dover Town Hall to disrupt the meeting, while more residents and police chiefs from neighboring towns delivered online public comments in support of Chief Delaney during the virtual meeting. Many residents alleged that the ordinance was a politically motivated move by Mayor James P. Dodd and supporting council members who disrespected Chief Delaney and Dover’s uniformed officers. 

Mayor Dodd, however, maintained that approving the ordinance is a purely economic decision, rather than political retaliation. He claimed that Chief Delaney hindered the administration’s ability to increase transparency across all departments in Dover. Dodd alleged that the police department’s overtime policies have continued to raise expenses for the town as a whole.  A letter of rebuttal by the Morris County Police Chiefs Association was sent to the Dover Town Council.

Chief Delaney, contacted after the meeting, said, “The ordinance is clearly retaliatory, introduced and passed less than a month after I filed a lawsuit against the Mayor and Dover alleging violations of the NJLAD, CEPA, and other civil-rights laws. We will be reserving all rights to pursue any and all legal remedies available at this time.”

Mayor Dodd did not respond to requests for comment.

The recently passed Ordinance 30-2025 is set to create Dover’s Department of Public Safety and reinstate the Director of Public Safety role in the town. However, unlike previous directors of public safety, the statute will eliminate the role of chief of police and allow for a private citizen appointed by the mayor to oversee police, fire, and emergency services.

Residents and police officers from several other municipalities in New Jersey warned that eliminating the positions will only lead to more legal battles being fought on the taxpayers’ dime. That did not deter any members of the council, who voted the same way this week as when the ordinance was introduced two weeks ago. Council members Sandra Wittner, Marcos Tapia, and Arturo Santana voted against the legislation for the second time. In contrast, council members Claudia Toro, Sergio Rodriguez, Geovani Estacio, Michael Scarneo, and Veronica Velez again voted in favor of the ordinance.

Officials delayed the town council meeting for one week after a letter from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office was sent to Mayor Dodd, the town’s CFO/Business Administrator Edward Ramirez, and other officials, stating that while the town can appoint a director of public safety, there are statutory requirements that the newly formed role cannot circumvent.

Specifically, the letter sent by County Prosecutor Robert Carroll stated that a public safety director appointed by the mayor cannot serve as the head of the police department, and that only a sworn officer, known as the officer in charge, may hold that role. The public safety director’s ability to supervise sworn officers is also limited in terms of its oversight of sworn officers, the letter said. 

Mayor Dodd and the town council did not address any of the points brought up in the county prosecutor’s letter during the meeting. 

While the adoption of ordinance 30-2025 ends the legislative debate, it immediately sets the stage for new legal challenges from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and police advocacy groups. These looming battles against Mayor Dodd could threaten to dismantle the statute and suggest that the ordinance may ultimately cost taxpayers far more than it was ever intended to save.

IN-PERSON MEETINGS NEXT?

However, after voting on a motion to prevent public comments that included disparaging remarks about members of the town council, Councilman Sergio Rodriguez recommended that anyone using profanity during public comments be banned. The motion passed, prompting a discussion about the possibility of installing metal detectors at the town hall entrance.

It also sparked a discussion about allowing members of the public to enter the chambers during council meetings for the first time since the council voted in June to bar them from entering the chambers during meetings. This decision followed Mayor Dodd's move to hold all council meetings online, citing concerns over public safety.  

Council members took no legislative action on this matter but agreed to discuss reopening Town Council meetings to in-person attendance at the October meetings. They set Monday, Nov. 10, as a tentative target date.