By Amy Batista, Special Writer
CRANBURY – After three decades of service, Cranbury Police Department Lt. Frank Dillane, who was instrumental in creating the township’s first Traffic Safety Bureau in 2003, is retiring.
Lt. Dillane, who was hired by the township on June 1, 1986, was recognized and presented with a resolution by Mayor Dan Mulligan at the Township Committee Monday night.
The veteran law enforcement office was promoted to sergeant on Oct. 21, 2002, and then lieutenant administrative commander on Aug. 23, 2010.
Mayor Mulligan said that throughout Lt. Dillane’s career with the township, the lieutenant had been instrumental in helping implement many great programs, such as “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” “Click-It or Ticket” and many others.
“Frank has kept up with the ever-changing technology in recent years and has provided his knowledge to Cranbury Police Department. He has helped with the installation of a new phone system as well as a computer system, making the department much more efficient,” said Mayor Mulligan. “Frank was instrumental in the implementation of the 911 dispatch shared services agreement with South Brunswick.”
The mayor said that he has personally gotten to know Lt. Dillane over the years and that he is someone the mayor would consider a friend as well as great asset to the town.
“He has been a big part of helping really keep Cranbury the way it is,” said Mayor Mulligan. “He’s one of the links to the past with a lot of the old chiefs and a lot of the old patrolmen and then linking that to a lot of new officers that have come onto Cranbury police force.”
Each of the committee members took a couple of minutes to share a story or about Lt. Dillane.
“He was much more than a police officer,” said the mayor as he recalled how Lt. Dillane helped get the township back up and running during Superstorm Sandy. “He knows a lot about technology, about business, and his future endeavors that he is moving into is going to be tremendous asset to the new the company that he is going to work for which is located in Cranbury.”
“We are going to miss you,” said Committeewoman Susan Goetz.
Lt. Dillane said in a follow-up email on Tuesday that he will be employed by Corr Protective Services and would begin his new job May 2 as the security manager at Sun Pharma.
And he reflected on how he became a police officer.
“I wasn’t necessarily inspired to become a police officer per se. I was working as a security officer on weekends and second shifts during the week,” said Lt. Dillane.
He was also attending college full-time during the day and doing tree service and farm work for a sergeant on Spotswood Police Department.
“I began working for him part-time after school at the age of 16. We became close and one day he spoke to me about becoming a police officer. He told me he had spoken to the chief of police in a neighboring borough about me. The chief was looking to hire a police officer, so my sergeant friend suggested that I arrange to meet with the chief. I did that and ultimately I was hired.”
Lt. Dillane worked for three years with Helmetta Borough Police Department and started at the Middlesex County Police Academy, graduating in June 1983.
When his position was cut by Helmetta Borough due to budgetary constraints, the Helmetta chief referred him to Cranbury Chief Kenneth Logan, who was hiring at the time.
Lt. Dillane said he was thankful for the leadership opportunities that current Cranbury Chief Rickey Varga has afforded to him.
“I still enjoyed coming to work every day,” he said. “I always tried to leave the day with making it better than it was when I arrived. There is a lot of personal satisfaction when you’re happy going to the place you work.”
