New Police Chief Sworn In Toms River Amid Furor Over Hiring Rules

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River has a new police chief, after Guy Maire was sworn in to the position during the Township Council meeting on Wednesday.

Maire, 57, took the oath not long after the council voted to adopt an ordinance changing the hiring guidelines for the police department — changes that brought criticism from Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.

Those changes — primarily removing a requirement for a bachelor's degree in favor of an associate's degree or 60 college credits or two years of military service — were approved by a 4-3 vote, with council members Justin Lamb, John Coleman, William Byrne and Lynn O'Toole voting in favor and council members Tom Nivison, Jim Quinlisk and David Ciccozzie voting against.

The changes also remove the police department's command staff from the interview process for new police officers. The township's mayor and business administrator will now sit on the interview committee with the police chief, under the ordinance approved Wednesday.

Mayor Daniel Rodrick had pushed for the changes, saying the existing hiring rules made it difficult to attract enough candidates and fill vacancies quickly. The new rules, he said, will allow Toms River to lure police officers currently employed in other towns, avoiding the need to send them to the police academy. Rodrick also said it will allow the department to hire more veterans, though the Toms River PBA says the department already has "a large number of veterans (active duty, reserves and retired) from nearly every branch of the United States military."

Much of the discussion on the ordinance focused on the issue of hiring veterans. Rodrick and Lamb said military veterans would be well-equipped to serve as police officers, dismissing concerns from Nivison and Quinlisk about the differences between military training and law enforcement training, particularly when it comes to training police receive in de-escalation of tense situations.

"They will still go to the police academy," Lamb said, saying it would "tone down" the military training that focuses on killing the enemy.

Christopher Mannion, a Toms River resident and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said it isn't as simple as sending veterans to the police academy for 26 weeks.

"We were taught to be hammers outside of this country," Mannion said. "We were taught to kill people quickly and violently. The continuum of force in the United States military is different than the continuum of force for a police officer."

"If you hire a bunch of Marines who killed people violently, you're going to get violently.," he said.

Hiring new officers is a critical issue for the department. Its roster of sworn officers has dipped to 148, the lowest in 21 years. From January 2024, when Rodrick took office, through June 2025, 12 officers had retired, six of them in 2024. Three more have retired since mid-June.

There have been five officers hired since January 2024: three in November, one in January and one in February, according to the official Toms River Township employee roster obtained via an Open Public Records Act request. And a list of potential hires was rejected by Rodrick in the spring just days before the officers were set to go to the police academy. Read more: Toms River Police Staffing Hits A 21-Year Low As Mayor Touts Flat Taxes

Peter Sundack, who was sworn in as chief of police in December, sent an email in late April to Rodrick and Business Administrator Jonathan Salonis (a copy of which was obtained by Patch), expressing concern about the administration's response to his requests to hire officers, calling them "critical vacancies."

"This continued attrition, without appropriate action to replace departing personnel, significantly undermines our department's ability to fulfill its mission — to protect and serve the citizens of Toms River with the highest standards of professionalism and efficiency," Sundack wrote.

Sundack has been out on medical leave, sources have told Patch. Maire, who was promoted to captain in September 2024, has been serving as the officer in charge of the department since Sundack went out on leave.

Before the resolution approving his promotion was voted on, Maire was put on the spot by Nivison and Quinlisk who asked for his opinion on the changes to the hiring rules.

Lamb refused to allow Maire to respond to the questions, at one point telling Quinlisk, "You don't understand the separation of powers," a statement that drew comments and some laughter from residents in the audience.

Lamb then told municipal clerk Stephen Hensel to move along with the vote.

Rodrick praised Maire, who has worked for the department for 33 years, saying he "has built a reputation for integrity, professionalism, and compassion. His dedication to our safety and well-being shines through in every aspect of his work."

Maire, a lifelong Toms River resident, did not smile during the swearing-in. He thanked Rodrick and the council for their support, calling it an honor to serve as police chief.

"I would like to thank all of the retired and current police officers because they made this department the gold standard in law enforcement," Maire said.

There was no word Wednesday on how soon the township will open police officer applications or how soon more officers would be hired with the new guidelines approved.