New police chief named
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
5/9/2010

Mayor Bernie Platt named a new police chief last week, as Chief Charlie Jones was scheduled to retire this past Friday.

Jones led the police department for the past five years.

Platt announced the nomination of Lt. Richard DelCampo, a 31-year law enforcement veteran, at Tuesday night’s Township Council meeting. He cited DelCampo’s ability to lead and his global knowledge of the Cherry Hill Police Department as main reasons for his promotion.

“Rick is a strong leader who has the confidence of his men in the police department,” Platt said. “His knowledge of the department is unparalleled through his experience in all aspects of operations, from serving as a dispatcher to his current role as the police watch commander.”

Finding a way to reduce overtime costs within the department – perhaps by rearranging the work shifts – is a top priority for the new chief.

The union hopes to reduce overtime, and it would save the taxpayers money, DelCampo said, so it’s a no brainer.

Updating the department’s Web site and making it more useful for township residents also needs to be completed fairly soon, DelCampo said.

The department will also look into programs such as Nixle, which would send up-to-date information and breaking news to residents who sign up for the free program.

Voorhees Township utilizes the program, DelCampo said, and it’s fairly successful. Being able to distribute information to residents and keep them up to date is a top priority, DelCampo explained.

“We need to have a proactive way of marketing this police department to a higher level. People need to know what we’re doing, and hopefully we’ll be able to make our Web site more user-friendly so people can download forms and possibly save a trip from coming here,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to this. It’s going to be a challenge.”

DelCampo began his career with the Cherry Hill Police Department, serving time in the district’s radio room. He also served time as a detective within the department.

Since 1995, DelCampo has had experience teaching law-enforcement classes at the Camden County Police Academy and has also taught at the Burlington County Police Academy.

Some of the classes he has taught include tactical crimes in progress, patrol concepts, and street survival for police officers.

In addition, DelCampo has obtained several professional certifications from the FBI Supervision and Leadership program, the New Jersey state Police Emergency Operation Center Response Planning program, the Montclair State University K-9 Management supervision program, and three levels of the state Police Emergency Management Incident training.

“There is no question that these are tough fiscal times right now, and the new chief will be faced with several fiscal challenges right off the bat,” Platt said. “Going forward, Rick has my administration’s confidence to face those challenges head-on while making our community safer and stronger.”

The Cherry Hill Police Department is staffed by 136 uniformed officers and processes more than 110,000 calls for service a year.