UPDATE: Wildwood Mayor Calls for Police to Act Professionally at Meetings

WILDWOOD — This city’s police chief and mayor are not getting along.
Wildwood Police Chief Steven Long filed a lawsuit in Superior Court claiming Mayor Gary DeMarzo was overstepping his role as Commissioner of Public Safety by meddling in police day-to-day operations, just days after DeMarzo sent a letter to the chief regarding police presence and conduct at city meetings.
DeMarzo wrote the letter on Nov. 1 and released it to the media on Nov. 10.
DeMarzo said the letter was not retaliation for anything the chief or department had done, but rather a call to act professionally. He said it was born from numerous complaints he received after a recent City Commission meeting.
“The conduct and lack of respect by the members of Police Department during the last Board of Commissioner Meeting (Oct. 27) was utterly appalling,” DeMarzo wrote. “Between the laughing, giggling and constant disruption by the officers, it became very difficult, if not impossible, to conduct the business of this City.”
The officers were in attendance at the meeting to oppose DeMarzo’s plan to reduce the number of police supervisors in the department. They wore T-shirts with the department’s logo on the front and what looked like a credit card commercial on the back. The shirts questioned DeMarzo’s spending practices and judgment. They read: Decorative Parking Meters: $23,000; Three Illegal Flood Pumps: $147,000; New Time Clock System: $250,000 and counting; Jeopardizing Public Safety with Layoffs and Demotions: PRICELESS!!!
In his letter, DeMarzo explained that he held the chief and his department “to the highest standard when it comes to public interaction.”
“These actions will not be tolerated and I expect you to share the same philosophy,” DeMarzo continued. “As you know, just the appearance of the police department, in or out of uniform, may be seen as intimidation. I will not have the public bullied, browbeaten or put in a position to be made to feel uncomfortable.”
DeMarzo said he was putting the chief and his officers “on notice that the rules that govern their employment will be strictly enforced.”
“There will be zero tolerance for even the slightest infraction,” he wrote.
According to a report from 98.7 The Coast, Long’s lawsuit alleges that DeMarzo has violated a state law referred to as the chief of police’s bill of rights. The law makes provisions for the responsibilities and charges of the police chief.
Long suggested that DeMarzo and the governing body have the right to make policy decisions, but not control the day-to-day operations of the police department, according to the Coast.
DeMarzo told the Coast that he did not break any laws regarding his actions with the police department, noting that he “has been very careful to consult with legal representatives over the actions he has taken.”
DeMarzo, a former officer in the Wildwood Police Department, was forced by the courts to give up his policeman’s job due to an inherent conflict of interests between the that post and his elected office.
A city commissioner since 2007, DeMarzo had been on unpaid leave from the department. As a commissioner, he was barred by the court from making administrative decisions regarding the police department.
It was Wildwood police Lt. Richard Adair who filed a lawsuit asking the court to make DeMarzo choose.
The mayor and Commissioner Al Brannen were also in a recent public argument over control of the Public Safety Department.
At an Aug. 11 meeting, DeMarzo, who has a long history of legal battles with the city and its police force, wrested control of the department from the unwilling hands of Brannen.
Brannen said it wasn’t a good idea for DeMarzo to be in charge of the police department given his history. DeMarzo disagreed and now this confrontation has ensued.