Police Chief Retires After 25 Years With Dept.

Morris Township's police chief is retiring from after 25 years of service, and will become police chief in Grinnell, Iowa next month.

Chief Dennis Reilly's retirement was announced at Wednesday night's township committee meeting, and is effective on Sept. 1. 

Reilly has been the chief since January 2011, and on Wednesday night his dedication and commitment to the department was recognized by town officials.

"You are one of the finest leaders that I know," committeeman Bruce Sisler said to Reilly right before he handed him a resolution marking his retirement. "While we are happy for the chief and his family as they turn the page and move to the next chapter of their lives to Grinnell, Iowa, theres a bit of sadness to see a 25-year veteran and a community leader leave our home. His commitment to Morris Township will never be forgotten." 

In his two and a half decades with the department, Reilly said, the things that made his experience worthwhile are the people he worked with, and the tremendous support from the community and governing body.

"I will certainly miss the people, both the residents and the people I've worked with. Not many people are blessed to go to a place and work for 25 years with pretty much the same group of people doing the same thing, and really enjoy going to work everyday, and no two days being the same," the chief said when contacted by Patch Thursday.

Reilly is leaving the department with an exiting salary of $142,000. Under his contract, he's entitled to a payout of 40 percent of up to 2,000 unused sick days. Township Administrator Timothy Quinn said Reilly's accrued well over the 2,000 he can use toward that payout, and estimated the payout would be about $45,000.

During Reilly's term as a police chief, the township experienced or was involved in the response to an earthquake, tropical storm Irene, the October 2011 snowstorm and a plane crash. Sisler recognized Reilly's efforts with those situations. 

"Chief Dennis Reilly handled each and every one of those challenges with professionalism, class, and a sense of humor," Sisler said.

When dealing with natural disasters and other extreme situations, Reilly said, preparation and communication are key, and that it is important to plan and prepare for the worst-case scenario. Reilly said the way the township handled Irene is a prime example of this.

"The township set up an emergency operation center where command-level personnel from various township services—police, fire, OEM, the road department, township administration—were all together in one place, and we were able to care of the issues as they came about," Reilly said.

Quinn, who had been police chief before Reilly, called his successor "probably the smartest police officer that I ever met."

"He's very, very ethical, and he does things a certain way, what is best for the Morris Township Police Department," Quinn said. "He's always done that, he's always excelled in every position and every assignment that he has had throughout his 25 year career."

Before Reilly became the chief, he served as a patrolman, a patrol sergeant, a patrol lieutenant, a detective lieutenant, and captain. Working in the township, Reilly got to take part in wiretap investigations and narcotic investigations. He even worked the day Sidney Reso, former Exxon executive, was kidnapped from his Morris Township home and murdered. 

In all of his years, Reilly said, the biggest change he has noticed at the department is the advancement of technology.

The Internet has brought information sharing-tools such as Nixle and Twitter, which allow the police to get important messages to the public quickly.

Reilly said officers are now able to easily share information and communicate with departments across New Jersey, and also in other states.

"The information-sharing is just incredible now," Reilly said.

One of the other major changes to police technology—having computers in the patrol cars—was implemented with Reilly's help.

Reilly said that computers were put in the police cars for the first time around 1992, and at first, the only thing officers could use them for was to request information. Now officers can complete reports, look up reports, get the history of a location, and complete a number of other tasks that Reilly never could have imagined when he started in 1987, when some cars only had AM radios.

Quinn said Reilly has brought a lot of improvements to the department in addition to technology, such as rearranging an organizational chart to address residents' concerns and reaching out to neighborhood watch groups. 

"He was always looking how to better serve the community," Quinn said. "Dennis was very proactive in the community and meeting with our residents and addressing their concerns."

The chief that will replace Reilly is Captain John McGuiness. According to Quinn, the township's process of bringing in a new chief requires a promotion within the department. The township committee makes a selection, interviews the captain, reviews their resume, training, and other things they have done, and then makes their decision.

Reilly starts as a chief in Iowa on June 4, and leaves the township on a high note, as he has made such a positive impact on the department.

"I often call Morris Township the jewel of Morris County, and Dennis Reilly, and the police department that he helped shape, made that jewel shine," Sisler said. "His leadership made Morris Township, NJ a better place, and now Dennis Reilly will make Grinnell, Iowa shine too."