TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J.—A committee charged with recommending a new chief of police to replace Glenn Hooper, who recently retired after 42 years on the force, has completed its work.
Promoted from captain to Police Chief effective Dec. 2 is Richard Skinner, a 26-year veteran of the department who had been officer in charge in Hooper’s absence.
The same committee recommended that Lt. John Calamari, who also was in the running for chief, be promoted to captain of police. Also a 26-year veteran, Calamari will serve as the department’s executive officer.
Lt. Arsenio Pecora also was in the running for the chief’s job.
Mayor Peter Calamari made this news known in a memo addressed to general release, but not distributed to the Township Council, on Dec. 3. Former councilman Joe D’Urso said the clerk sent a copy to the council the morning of Dec. 3, and he obtained a copy. He posted it to a Facebook group on township taxpayer issues. Pascack Press later obtained its own copy of the one-page document, dated Dec. 2, from a current councilman.
D’Urso told Pascack Press both officers promoted were sworn in on Dec. 2, a day many meetings and special events were cancelled over wintry weather. Indeed, the regularly scheduled council meeting of Dec. 2 was cancelled due to weather conditions and rescheduled for Monday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Hooper, 65, took his final walk out from police headquarters on Oct. 31. At that event, Mayor Calamari said the search selection committee consisted of Hooper, Public Safety Director and former WTPD Chief William Cicchetti, and Township Administrator Robert Tovo, a former chief of police of the Borough of Mountain Lakes.
The mayor told Pascack Press he would not help decide the chief’s replacement owing to the fact that one of the candidates is his brother. In his memo, he said the recommendations drew on “extensive interviews with each of the ranking officers.”
In making the announcement of the promotions, the mayor wrote, “This was a very competitive process which highlighted the talent, knowledge, and commitment of our entire command staff.”
He noted Skinner is a former U.S. Marine who made captain in 2018 and holds an undergraduate degree in public management and a master’s of administrative science from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He said Skinner “holds many police training certifications and is a former DARE officer and has volunteered as both a youth baseball and football coach in the township.”
The mayor wrote that the selection committee recommended Capt. Calamari in part because “he has dedicated much of his career as an investigator and holds many professional certifications in that area. In addition Capt. Calamari is a handgun and patrol rifle instructor.”
Township code has the top cop’s promotion subject to mayoral appointment by advice of the chief and director. The 2019 township salary ordinance gives the police chief pay of $180,964. It is subject to change for 2020.
The 2019 salary ordinance does not list the pay for captain of police, which is the highest rank negotiated by the PBA.
The mayor did not return an after-hours call seeking comment.
At Hooper’s walkout ceremony, Skinner—who started on the WTPD 26 years ago alongside Capt. Calamari and Sgt. Roy Scherer—told Pascack Press Hooper’s first priority was “the health and welfare of the cops that worked with him.”
“He led by example, which we all think is very important. He was an all-around great guy who got up every morning and did the right thing. He was always the guy that looked out for his people,” Skinner said.
John Calamari added of Hooper, “He’s been phenomenal. He cares about the department and the people in it. He’s all heart. Everyone felt safe with him, everyone knew he had their backs; he was a professional. You could truly count on the guy.”
He said, “He was on the job 17 years when I got hired, and here I am in my 26th year. It was great to see such a great guy move through the ranks. He’s just going to be missed.”
Challenges ahead
In his office minutes after his ceremony, Hooper told Pascack Press his replacement would have to contend with “unwanted traffic coming in off Route 17 and the Garden State Parkway.”
“You’ve got Linwood Avenue, you’ve got Van Emburgh Avenue. The parkway goes right though the middle of town. And you don’t get the nicest people coming off the parkway. That’s their easy way in and out of town,” he said.
Hooper said problems include burglaries and car thefts, fueled in part by the drug problem.
“Thank God it’s not violent. But it’s not only our town; it’s towns up and down Pascack Road and Van Emburgh. There are criminal activities. A lot of burglaries, and a lot of it’s related to drugs,” he said.
He said an ongoing challenge is educating the public not to leave their key fobs in their cars when not in use.
Residents call up, “Oh, my car is gone—the key fob was in the car in the glove box,” he said.
Hooper said thieves, some connected with criminal rings plaguing affluent Bergen County and elsewhere, “just go into the cars and start them and drive them away.”
Speeding remains a problem, particularly on Van Emburgh Avenue and Colonial Boulevard.
“It’s very hard to stop the speeding. We do the surveys and radar details. We have guys making stops all the time, but you can’t be everywhere 24 hours a day,” Hooper said.
He said he put in a request for funding for three or four portable radar signs that tell drivers they’re speeding or right on track.
At Hooper’s walkout ceremony, Tovo said the former chief would receive an unused-time payout of $86,680.
Reaction to mayor’s memo
As reaction to the memo picked up on Facebook, several residents agreed Skinner was a good choice. There also was an eagerness to see speeding tackled more aggressively in town.
Some residents dinged the mayor on the manner in which the promotions were made known. His letter was forwarded to the candidates and department heads—but not the Township Council—by Tovo on Dec. 3 at 9:20 a.m.
Tovo writes as a cover note, “On behalf of Mayor Peter Calamari, please see the attached. Feel free to share with anyone who may not be included in this email.”
An email thread shows the town clerk noticed the oversight and forwarded the memo to the council, and councilwomen-elect Stacey DeMarco-Feeney and Desserie Morgan, some 22 minutes later.
Update: Amended after publication to discuss that the council was not included on the distribution list receiving Mayor Peter Calamari’s notice of the promotions. We will update this story, including with reaction from New Jersey PBA Local 206, representing the officers of Emerson, Haworth, Old Tappan, Oradell, Park Ridge, River Vale, Washington Township, Westwood, and Woodcliff Lake.