Promotion makes Richardson first African American police chief in Morristown

Darnell Richardson has been promoted as Morristown’s first African American police chief.

The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office addressed Richardson as chief in a news release on Thursday afternoon.

Richardson, 54, has served as acting chief since 2018. During his 32 years as a cop, he has served in virtually every role in the bureau– from foot patrols and bike patrols to the detective and services divisions.

The 1986 Morristown High School graduate was promoted to captain in 2015, and was among four captains eligible to take a state Civil Service test for chief scheduled for this fall. Any of the top three finishers could be promoted to the position.

An announcement from the town is imminent, town Administrator Jillian Barrick said Thursday.

Richardson and Mayor Tim Dougherty did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Calls to the state Civil Service Commission and Department of Labor also were not returned. Talk of the promotion began circulating online this week.

Dougherty’s administration named Richardson as acting chief in December 2018, when then-chief Pete Demnitz was placed on leave after an officer successfully sued the town over a demotion.

When Demnitz retired in 2019, Richardson agreed to continue as acting chief.  At the time, Michael Corcoran Jr., hired amidst the tumult as the town’s first public safety director, praised Richardson as a “born leader.”

In 2015, Demnitz noted Richardson’s local roots and knowledge of the community and the police bureau.

As patrol commander, Demnitz said, Richardson was “in charge of every uniformed officer you see on the street. It’s a huge responsibility.”

Richardson, who also has served as volunteer firefighter in Morris Township, said he never aspired to be a commander.  “My ambition in life was to be a police officer,” he said when promoted to police captain.

On Richardson’s watch as acting chief, the bureau earned accreditation for the first time by the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.

He also found himself caught in the crossfire between the mayor and the PBA, which unsuccessfully opposed Dougherty’s election this year to a fourth term.

Union leadership accused the administration of pushing ticket quotas to shore up municipal coffers during the pandemic, and of pressuring Richardson to punish officers who balked by assigning them to late-night foot patrols.

The union also filed a grievance claiming town officials were dragging their feet appointing a permanent chief.

Richardson described quotas as illegal and denied any political pressure, saying he assigned foot patrols to address public safety concerns.

As of December 2020, the acting chief job paid $174,500, according to a statewide database of public employees.

In a 2019 lawsuit, Police Capt. Michael Buckley accused the town of humiliating him by passing him over for acting chief, a role he filled in the past. The Marine Corps veteran had testified the year before for the officer who won his demotion case.