WEST WILDWOOD – Borough residents are campaigning hard to save the Police Department, which they believe is on the chopping block due to a new report that recommends it be dissolved.
They are spreading the word on social media and offering to help distribute information throughout town about the issue, including a letter from a police union official and notice of the next commissioners meeting.
And the organizer of a Facebook page addressing the matter said there would be an “informational protest” at Borough Hall June 6 over the issue.
The new report, issued by the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police after a study requested by the borough, recommends: “Based on the review of the West Wildwood Police Department, the NJSACOP recommends the borough disband the current department and contract services with another jurisdiction.”
The 28-page report found “a complete lack of leadership in the Borough of West Wildwood Police Department” and highlighted about 15 other problems, including a lack of training, lack of solid recruitment and retention, and even problems with the police building.
The report listed four options for rectifying the problems: first, operating a professional, full-time police service, including perhaps sharing a chief of police; next, an option similar to the first but focusing on the model for sharing a police chief; third, going to a complete shared-services model, and fourth, contracting for police services with another police department and disbanding the borough police force.
The report notes that there have already been discussions with the Wildwood Police Department to partially cover the department and possibly enter into a full-time contract. The report said this is the best option, based on a list of conclusions contained in the report.
See the full report at www.westwildwood.org.
Deborah DiDonato-Fox, the organizer of the Facebook page and one of the leaders of the campaign to save the department, said the borough paid for the report issued by Chiefs Association and was “fabricated to support their false narrative.”
“(The Chiefs Association) is not a neutral party. It was paid to create the false narrative the borough wants the residents to believe,” DiDonato-Fox said. “They gave the borough the product they paid for.”
Some residents have said the Board of Commissioners had been declining comment on the matter, including Commissioner Jane DiMattia, who is the borough’s director of public safety. At a recent commission meeting DiMattia declined to engage in a back-and-forth discussion of the issue.
DiMattia and Borough Solicitor Matt Lyons did not respond to a Herald email request for comment before deadline.
But Mayor Matt Ksiazek did reply to such a request, saying the Police Department had been talked about publicly.
“Frankly, we have been very open and transparent in our meetings discussing the challenges we are facing, and what our ongoing efforts are,” Ksiazek said. “Beyond statutory privacy restrictions, any suggestion otherwise is a complete untruth.
“What I can inform you is, we have received a third-party evaluation report from the Police Chiefs Association of New Jersey,” he said before the public release of the report June 2. “It is a comprehensive report of past practices, current conditions and future recommendations about the West Wildwood Police Department.”
According to the borough’s 2025 budget, the administration planned for nine full-time officers and two part-time officers. The force is currently operating with five officers.
The department is being administered by Det. Mark Weeks from the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, as current Police Chief Jackie Ferentz is on leave pending retirement.
DiDonato-Fox said on the Facebook page that bringing in the Prosecutor’s Office was an attempt to undermine the department. The Prosecutor’s Office has provided a monitor to other departments when the chief’s position was vacant.
Some residents don’t see it as a money issue, since funding for the department is already in the 2025 budget. According to that budget, commissioners allotted $970,602 for the police, including base wages, overtime and other compensation, pensions, health benefits and taxes.
Spencer Smith, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the police union, claimed in a letter dated May 27 that though the borough has budgeted for salaries and wages, there has been no effort to hire the additional officers to fill out the staff. He sees this as a serious problem.
“The dwindling number of police officers poses a critical officer safety issue,” Smith wrote. “Your failure to fill job vacancies and hire new officers not only puts every officer working, resident, and visitor at risk, but also renders the department’s operations as ineffective.
“There is a lot going on in a short period of time, and there has been no attempt to hire new officers. There is a list of applicants, but no one being interviewed. The people want the borough to continue to be policed by West Wildwood.”
Smith said operating a department with so few officers poses risks if even one becomes sick or injured. He said the operation of the department leaves little incentive for officers to stay.
“It appears that you are hoping that all the officers will resign, providing you with an easy way out,” he wrote.
Ksiazek said any suggestion that there have not been efforts to hire new officers is deliberately wrong.
“The borough has had an open application for the past 4.5 years and has hired and lost more than 20 officers,” he said. “Also, the borough has worked very hard to keep the West Wildwood Police Department.”
Former Commissioner John Banning, who was the previous director of public safety, has said that it is hard to recruit and retain officers for the department. Even if officers were hired, it was likely they would leave for a better-paying or more exciting job elsewhere, he said.
Many of those speaking out on social media are asking others to help spread the news. Some offered to hand-deliver Smith’s letter and information about the next Board of Commissioners meeting to other residents.
The commenters have claimed that most of the borough’s approximately 550 residents want to keep the Police Department rather than merge it with a neighboring department or dissolve it. They express a desire to retain the personal service a local police department can offer.
A petition started by Amy Mangino on Change.org says, “Living in West Wildwood, New Jersey has been akin to being part of a close-knit family where everyone looks out for each other, and the small-town feel provides a sense of security and belonging. This intimate community atmosphere is not just important to us residents; it’s our way of life. A significant part of maintaining this cherished lifestyle is our West Wildwood Police Department.”
The petition goes on to say the officers are not just members of law enforcement, but are also “neighbors, friends, and familiar faces seen at local events and on the streets, ensuring safety while engaging with the community.
“The presence of a local, trusted police force contributes significantly to why we feel safe and at home here.”
The petitioners are trying to get 50 signatures, which is roughly 10% of the full-time population.
DiDonato-Fox said there would be an informational protest at Borough Hall in an attempt to draw more attention to the matter just before the next regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners, scheduled for Friday, June 6, at 7 p.m. The protest is expected to begin at about 6:15.
At the meeting, residents are expected to ask the commissioners to table any decision on the Police Department or put it up for a vote in a referendum.
“We ask you to do the right thing – that is, table your decision indefinitely – and take the time to rebuild our Police Department rather than tear it down,” DiDonato-Fox said.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
