Command Level Changes in Middle Police Department

COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Committee ratified an agreement, May 1, between the township and Jennifer DeLanzo, who will become the chief of police effective June 1, 2023.
DeLanzo will be the first woman to hold the position in the township’s history. DeLanzo takes over from Christopher Leusner, who has served as chief of police since October 2009. Leusner’s retirement was acknowledged by the governing body at a March 6 meeting of the committee.
In the same meeting, the committee acknowledged the retirement of Capt. James Loftus, effective Aug. 1, 2023. Loftus has served as operations captain in the department since September 2021. Loftus joined the Middle Township Police Department in 1999.
DeLanzo graduated from the Cape May County Police Academy in January 2000, one year after Loftus. She was promoted to the rank of captain in 2022. She currently serves as the administrative captain in the department.
DeLanzo was selected as the new chief following an interview process which involved her and Loftus, according to a township release. Leusner praised DeLanzo as someone who “understands the importance of engaging our residents and partners in the community to provide the very best police services.”
The emphasis which Leusner put on DeLanzo’s background in community policing signals a continuation of Leusner’s own commitment to community involvement and outreach.
The department of 53 full-time officers provides police services to a municipality that is the 11th largest in the state in terms of land area and has over 20,000 year-round residents, according to the 2020 census.
DeLanzo began her career with the township in 1998, serving as a dispatcher. DeLanzo started in patrol in 2000, earned the rank of corporal in 2011, was promoted to sergeant in 2016, lieutenant in 2020, and finally to the rank of captain in 2022.
As Leusner steps down as chief of police, he has announced his candidacy for a seat on the township’s governing body in the November elections. The seat became available when Mayor Timothy Donohue decided he would not seek a fifth term on the committee.
Leusner earned the endorsement of the Middle Township Regular Republican Organization in March. Ironically Leusner’s father, Charles “Chuck” Leusner, served on the governing body from 1983 to 2007 as a Democrat. Chuck Leusner was the township’s mayor from 1999 to 2001.
At the May 1 meeting, Donohue said the township would be “doing something” to further acknowledge Leusner’s retirement and DeLanzo’s selection before the transition takes place June 1. 
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.