Morris Co. Police Chiefs Slam Mayor Amid Long-Standing Feud

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — Nearly a dozen police chiefs in Morris County have criticized Dover Mayor James P. Dodd and his administration amid a long-standing dispute involving Dover Police Chief Jonathan Delaney.

The Morris County Police Chiefs Association, of which Delaney serves as president, wrote a letter to Dover’s administration and residents, claiming Dodd attempted to create “a hostile work environment,” among other allegations.

“In (Dodd’s and Business Administrator Edward Ramirez's) attempt to discredit Chief Delaney, they have embarked upon a campaign of retaliatory and untruthful behavior with the goal of misleading members of the Dover Council, but more importantly, the residents of Dover, who Mayor Dodd was elected to represent,” the letter reads.

The letter specifically accuses the administration of attempting to abolish the Chief and Deputy Chief positions and replace them with an administration-appointed Public Safety Director and Deputy Public Safety Director. The chiefs association calls the move a “weaponization of the internal affairs process,” and an “unethical attempt to instill fear.”

The chiefs association also expressed concern that an administration-contracted report from The Valori Group LLC, a security consulting firm based in Morris Plains, was “biased and lacking in credible fact.” The group claims the report was for the promotion of Dodd’s and Ramirez’s agenda.

The report says that the Dover Police Department is understaffed with a model that “inflates costs far beyond sustainable levels.”

The chiefs association claims that The Valori Group LLC did not interview leadership or personnel during its report, calling it “slanted, incomplete, and politically charged.”

“While Mayor Dodd and Administrator Ramirez accuse Chief Delaney of running the Police Department in an inefficient and ineffective manner, they have utilized taxpayer monies in a grossly ineffective and inefficient manner by engaging in an unprofessional overview at best, of the Dover Police Department, by The Valori Group,” the letter reads. “The time has come for the members of the Town of Dover Council and the residents of Dover to hear the truth and see the reality of the misleading and hostile atmosphere being created by Mayor Dodd and Administrator Ramirez, which serves nothing more than the malicious intent of their agenda and not the best interests of the Town of Dover.”

The letter is signed by 11 Morris County police chiefs, including those from Mendham Township, Chester Township, Washington Township, and Morris Plains.

Neither Dodd nor Ramirez was immediately available for comment.

The letter comes a month after Delaney filed a lawsuit against the Town of Dover and Dodd, claiming he “created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in the Town of Dover,” the suit reads.

The suit highlights nine claims, including retaliatory harassment, breach of contract, aiding and abetting, defamation/slander/libel, and First Amendment retaliation.

A report from The Daily Record highlights several clashes between the Dover Police Department and the town administration, citing the arrest of a councilman, whistleblower lawsuits, and more.

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