Chief Tom Preiser is retiring on March 1 after 35 years in law enforcement, seven of which he's served as chief.
Harvey Cedars police chief Tom Preiser is retiring after 35 years in law enforcement. (Photo courtesy of Tom Preiser).HARVEY CEDARS -- When you're the police chief of a small town, it's not just a desk job.
When an officer calls out sick, sometimes the chief has to step up and go out on patrol; or respond to a car crash when no one else can.
That's what Tom Preiser, police chief of the tiny borough of Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, says he's going to miss most about the job. Preiser is retiring on March 1 after 35 years in law enforcement, seven of which he's served as chief.
"I really like working in a small-town atmosphere," Preiser said in a phone interview last week. "There is law enforcement work that you do, but you also help the community and participate in community activities. ... People thought I was crazy getting so involved, but I did."
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With just nine full-time officers, Harvey Cedars, a borough of about 500 residents nestled between North Beach and Loveladies, is a small department with a big-department mentality, Preiser said.
"We're probably on par with a larger police department and in some cases, we're a little bit better," Preiser said.
He said Harvey Cedars police was one of the smallest departments to receive accreditation from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, an acknowledgement that the department fulfilled "the implementation of policies and procedures that are conceptually sound and operationally effective," according to the NJSACOP website.
And with nearly 4,500 followers on Twitter, Harvey Cedars has one of the largest Twitter presences in the country for such a small department, Preiser said.
That especially came in handy during Hurricane Sandy when Preiser said Harvey Cedars was the mouthpiece for information on Long Beach Island.
"That's when our social media became really big," he said. "We like to say we were the leaders of social media on Long Beach Island."
Sandy was also a pivotal moment that displayed how integrated Preiser's officers were within the community.
"We spent a lot of time getting information out to residents," he said. "We would actually take phone calls from people. People wanted to see how their house was doing and we would take pictures and send it to them. ... The guys all took part in that."
Preiser said his department worked countless hours for about two weeks straight after Sandy devastated the Island, which is not far from where the hurricane made landfall. When it was safe to allow residents back on the Island, Preiser wrote the re-entry plan for LBI.
Climbing the ranks
Preiser grew up in Basking Ridge and graduated from Kutztown University, a small state school in rural Pennsylvania, in 1981. Right after college, he got his first job in law enforcement as a summer temporary officer in Harvey Cedars.
In January 1983, he returned to his hometown and was hired as a full-time officer with the Bernards Township Police Department. Preiser worked there for about five years, and then went back to work for Harvey Cedars in 1988, this time as a full-time officer.
He was promoted to sergeant in 2005 and then to chief in 2009. Preiser also holds a master's degree in criminal justice from Monmouth University.
Preiser said he learned a lot about the job from the late former police Chief George "Wes" Andrews. Andrews retired from the post when Preiser was hired in 1988, but the two stayed close.
"He (Andrews) would always tell me I would be chief in Harvey Cedars," Preiser said. "And sure enough, here I am."
What now?
Preiser says his retirement plan is to spend more time with his family.
He has a 27-year-old daughter who lives in North Carolina; a 21-year-old son who is graduating from college in the spring; another 18-year-old daughter who is currently a sophomore in college; and he and his wife adopted an 11-year-old daughter who's in middle school.
Perhaps it's no surprise then that some of Preiser's fondest memories as chief are all the times he was able to assist kids in the borough. In a couple instances, he was able to comfort young adults involved in serious car crashes.
In one case two years ago, Preiser recalls, a woman was on vacation from Pittsburgh during the summer when she totaled the family car. With no way to get back home, Preiser was able to make arrangements to get her back to Pittsburgh safely.
"We've had cases where we've had injuries to kid, kids in car accidents, those kind of really touched me a lot more emotionally," he said.
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Detective Robert Burnaford will be sworn in on March 8 at the borough's Board of Commissioners meeting.
Preiser said he's leaving behind a department that is well groomed for success even in his absence.
"These guys train the same way as any bigger department does," Preiser said. "It may be (a) small (borough) but we're still prepared as any town would be. We have all that same stuff that a big town would have, you just don't see it, but it's here."
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
