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NORTH WILDWOOD POLICE HISTORY
    
In 1906 the Borough of Anglesea was re-incorporated as the Borough of North Wildwood and thus the first configuration of North Wildwood Police Department was officially formed. At this time, the Department consisted of one small room in the City Hall Building located on the 900 block of Atlantic Avenue. The section of the building that housed the Police Department also had three male cells and one female cell, a storage closet, and a small municipal court located in the next room. The Police Department remained in this location until 1974 when the new police building was built in its current location behind City Hall. Curiously, even though the department was formed in 1906, according to the North Wildwood Council meeting minutes, the Police Department was not officially established by ordinance until April 18, 1933.
A seasonal auxiliary branch of the police department was formed in 1964 to provide additional officers in the summer months due to the influx of people vacationing in the area. The auxiliary members were concentrated in the boardwalk and bar areas to maintain a police presence as these areas experienced a high concentration of people during these months. This auxiliary section of the police department lasted approximately 15 years. After the auxiliary branch was disbanded, the police department began the practice of hiring Special Law Enforcement Officers Class II, who attended PTC police academy training programs. It was these Class II Summer Officers that would be assigned in lieu of the auxiliary to the beach, boardwalk, and entertainment district as well as adding extra personnel for cars on street patrol.
Civilian Crossing Guards have been employees of the Department since the inception of Margaret Mace Elementary in 1925, in the 1960’s and 1970’s the department had a prize winning pistol team, and in 2006 the Police Department assumed responsibility for the City Code Enforcement adding four civilian Code Enforcement Officers to our ranks.
In addition to front line patrol vehicles the department utilizes ATV's, unmarked patrol units for the Detective Division, 5-ton vehicles for high water operation, a Polaris for beach patrols, a Golf Cart for Boardwalk patrol, Code Enforcement vehicles, patrol motorcycles, and numerous patrol bicycles; all of which allow for high flexibility amongst both street patrol duties and parking enforcement.
The first “Police Chief” was Borough of Anglesea Marshall George Redding who retired in 1907 and was followed by Chief Marshall Harry Conn, who served 1907-1913 as the Borough of North Wildwood Police Chief due to the Borough’s first incorporation. Conn was also appointed as the first Police Chief of the newly formed City of North Wildwood on January 1, 1913 and continued to serve until his retirement in 1915. The following is the complete list of Police Chiefs in the City of North Wildwood.
(source: North Wildwood City Council Meeting Minutes)
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North Wildwood Marshals (1885-1912)
& Police Chiefs (1913 – present)
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1885 to 1906 – Borough of Anglesea
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1906 to 1917 – Borough of North Wildwood
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1917 to present – City of North Wildwood
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(Note – Marshal was a One-Year Appointment)
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Name
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Date Appointed
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Date Resigned
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Charles O. Wade
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June 29, 1885
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1st ‘Marshal’/ Not re-appointed
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Thomas Rhodes
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May 25, 1886
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Resigned July 27, 1888
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James Smith
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August 1888
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Resigned March 18, 1890
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John B. Nickerson
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April 25, 1890
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Not re-appointed
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William Bowman
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March 17, 1891
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Not re-appointed
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Samuel Ludlam
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April 29, 1892
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Re-appointed 1893 & 1894
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James Coapman
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April 6, 1895
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Resigned fall 1895
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James Chadwick
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November 6, 1895
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Re-appointed in 1896 thru 1901
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Richard Davis
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March 17, 1902
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Resigned May 22, 1902
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George Frith
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May 22,1902
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Re-appointed 1903 thru 1906
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George Redding
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January 1, 1907
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Resigned January 16, 1907
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Harry Conn
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January 31, 1907
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Re-appointed 1908 thru 1910
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Harry Conn & Harry Levering
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January 2, 1911
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Both appointed as ‘Marshal’
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Harry Conn & Harry Levering
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January 1, 1912
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Conn – ‘Chief Marshal’ /Levering – ‘Marshal’
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Harry Conn
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January 1, 1913
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1st ‘Chief of Police’ Resigned April 20, 1915
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James Chadwick
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November 6, 1895
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Re-appointed in 1896 thru 1901
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Albert Thompson
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April 20, 1915
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Died March 21, 1934
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Clarence McGinley
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January 1, 1935
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Died Nov. 28, 1948
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Carl Hoffman
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June 8, 1949
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Disability Retirement June 1, 1959
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Raymond Dhue
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July 21,1959
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Died March 2, 1966
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LeRoy Baker
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March 15, 1966
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Retired June 1, 1977
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William Wizst
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June 7, 1977
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Retired January 2, 1987
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Anthony Sittineri
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January 6, 1987
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Died February 21, 1997
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Gary Sloan
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March 4, 1997
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Retired October 2001
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Joseph Stevenson
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November 7, 2001
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Retired September 20, 2005
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Robert Matteucci
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October 1, 2005
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Retired May 1, 2013
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Matthew Gallagher
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May 1, 2013
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Retired June 30, 2021
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John Stevenson
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July 1, 2021
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Present
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