LAKEWOOD — Deputy Mayor Charles Cunliffe announced at the Township Committee’s meeting on Sept. 19 that Lakewood is seeking to hire a public safety director to replace the current police chief, Michael Lynch, who Cunliffe said has indicated he will soon retire.
"We are seeking someone with a four-year degree in criminology and high-ranking experience as an officer in a major metropolis such as New York City or Philadelphia," Cunliffe said. "That person will run the police department of Lakewood the same as the police chief, but it will be a renewable position."
Cunliffe said the township has already run advertisements for the position in The New York Times and in newspapers in Philadelphia, as well as in some trade magazines.
A telephone call to Lynch’s office seeking comment on the committee’s plan to hire a public safety director was met with the response that any comment relating to the Lakewood Police Department would have to come from department spokesman Lt. Rob Lawson.
Reached later, Lawson said Lynch would have no comment on the public safety director situation.
— Joyce Blay