Former Police Chief Mourned In Gloucester Township

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — John Stollsteimer Jr., a retired officer who served as Gloucester Township's police chief, has died, officials announced.

Stollsteimer joined the Gloucester Township Police Department in 1970, serving as chief from 1992 until his retirement in 2006. In his early years, he helped the agency improve its relationship with the community — especially youths.

At the time, the GTPD only had four patrol cars. When police drove by, kids in the community made pig noises, he said in a video filmed in March 2023. Then, he helped start a society-improvement program, which began with the township's crime prevention officer visiting schools to talk to kids.

Thereafter, Stollsteimer noticed a more positive attitude from children when police came around. It became the norm for officers to get out of their patrol vehicles and play street hockey or shoot hoops with kids.

"I think that's the relationship that we need to have with the public," he said in the video, recorded last year for the GTPD's 100th anniversary. "I think the Gloucester Township Police Department has really exemplified professionalism over the course of its history."

Throughout his career, Stollsteimer held several leadership positions, including serving as president of the Camden County Association of Chiefs of Police from 1997-98. He was also sergeant of arms for the South Jersey Police Chiefs Association, the township's emergency management coordinator from 1992-97 and a member of the advisory board for the Camden County College Police Academy.

He also graduated from the FBI National Academy.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Stollsteimer organized a supply drive for police in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, according to David J. Harkins, the township's current police chief.

"Upon my becoming chief of police, he was one of the first to congratulate me," Harkins said. "He regularly reached out to provide his support, always from the viewpoint of a fellow chief of police.

Read more about Stollsteimer's career below: