Toms River's outgoing police chief tells officers: “We will get through this”

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Shortly after 6 p.m. Friday, after well-wishers had left the parking lot and work had resumed at the Richard C. Clement Law Enforcement Center, a white sedan pulled up to the entrance of the police department.

Mitch Little paused for a moment and waved, then drove away accompanied by his wife and son, ending his 39-year career in law enforcement.

For Little, a Toms River native who has spent his entire career with the Toms River Police Department, the departure also marked the end of a months-long conflict with Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick.

Little, who announced his retirement on Aug. 16, addressed the large crowd that gathered Friday to bid him farewell. The group included co-workers, retired officers and a number of people who came to wish him well. Ocean County Commissioner Virginia Haines was in attendance, as were Lakewood Police Chief Gregory Meyer and retired Ocean County Deputy Sheriff William Sommeling.

Little paid tribute to those who led the department before him, including Clement, who was chief when Little joined the force as a child with his father. Clement rose to deputy chief before retiring, setting a precedent for Mitch Little.

He also paid tribute to Patrick Dellane, who retired as Deputy Chief of Police effective July 31.

“He was always by my side,” Little said.

Little spent much of his time as police chief building community relations. He created TR's Around the World cultural food festival, which highlighted many of the cultures living in Toms River, and helped establish the Toms River Police Youth Camp, which gives children interested in police a taste of the profession. The department also participated in Bigs in Blue, where officers serve as mentors to children from single-parent households, as well as National Night Out and other community initiatives.

Since early January, however, the conflict between Little and Rodrick has escalated. Rodrick suspended the chief in April for “an administrative matter,” and last week Rodrick claimed Little was facing another suspension and had instead retired.

The two have been at odds since Rodrick denied Little a chance to fill two captain positions in January. Rodrick said the money from the two positions — vacated by retirements — is needed to hire additional paramedics for the township. Rodrick has repeatedly said the department has too many management staff; Little said the three captain positions — Dellane was the third — are necessary because of the department's size. In addition to patrol officers and detectives, the township's paramedics and Class III officers, who provide security at Toms River's 15 schools, as well as dispatchers, are also under the chief's supervision.

Little addressed the conflict indirectly, saying the police department has faced political challenges in the past.

“We will get through this,” he said. “We have done this in the past, and we will get through this.”

Haines praised the large turnout at Little's farewell.

“It just shows how much support the police chief and the Toms River Police Department have in the community,” she said, adding that the captains are needed in the state's eighth-largest municipality. “All they (the police officers) want is to serve their neighbors.”

“It's a shame that we have all these problems because Toms River is our county seat,” Haines said. “We should all be working together.”