BERKELEY – Police Chief Karin DiMichele’s retirement from policework was April 30, and Deputy Chief Kevin Santucci was sworn in the next day.
DiMichele spent 10 years as chief and 26 years as an officer in Berkeley. She made sergeant in 2001 and lieutenant in 2005. In 2011, she received the highest score in the state on the promotional examination and became the department’s chief.
In the first year of her time as chief, the township saw a hurricane and Superstorm Sandy. Lesser known and probably forgotten by now, there was also a small tornado and aftershocks from an earthquake in another state.
During her tenure, she also had the police department be accredited. This is an arduous process that makes police departments’ policies conform to best practices.
Her department became the first in the county and one of the first in the state to implement a body-worn camera program. Also during this time, the records department was digitized, keeping up with modern technology.
The EMS program began during her time as chief in answer to the decline in volunteerism throughout the state. The department also permanently deployed officers to schools in Berkeley for daily security after the Sandy Hook shooting. In response to the opioid epidemic, the chief focused on DARE and “Not Even Once” programs, provided NARCAN to officers, and “Project Medicine Drop.”
Chief DiMichele said she would like to wish every officer and police employee well and would like to thank them for their commitment to their community and to the residents of Berkeley Township. She said that “any accomplishment made during her tenure could not have been possible without the dedication and resourcefulness of the finest police officers in the finest agency in the nation.”
“On behalf of the Township Council, we want to thank Chief DiMichele for her years of dedication, service and leadership to the township. It has been an honor to work with Chief DiMichele. We wish her and her family all the best in her well deserved retirement,” Mayor Carmen Amato said.
Santucci began his law enforcement career in 1999 working summers with the Seaside Park Police. In 2001 he started in Ocean Gate and months later joined Berkeley. He was assigned to the patrol division, and also served as a field training officer and as a member of the department’s marine unit. In 2008 was assigned to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Operations Group, assisting in narcotics and gang related investigations.
He made sergeant in 2009, worked in the patrol division, supervised the marine unit, and performed administrative duties and internal affairs investigations.
From 2013 to 2018, he was promoted to lieutenant, then captain, then deputy chief. With each new title came more responsibility and leadership.
“On behalf of the Township Council we wish to congratulate Deputy Chief Santucci on his promotion to Police Chief. Over the last 10 years, we have watched Chief Santucci grow. We have no doubt that Chief Santucci is the right person to lead the department in the future. We look forward to working with him,” Mayor Carmen Amato said.
Born and raised in Berkeley Township, he is a 1996 graduate of Central Regional High School. He is a past president of the Berkeley Twp. Superior Officers Association and is an active member of Chapter 10 of the Police Unity Tour.
The police department has 120 employees, of which 85 are sworn officers. Others include animal control, communications, and EMS.
When the former chief, John Weinlein, retired in 2011, Lt. Karin DiMichele was appointed to the chief position. There was a short-lived power struggle at the time, when the Republican-led council attempted to make choosing the chief a function of the council rather than a mayoral appointment. At the end of the fight, that power remained a function of the administration, which at the time was headed by a Democrat.
Ultimately, it might not have mattered, since DiMichele was by far the highest score on the Civil Service test and law states that officials have to choose that person unless there is significant reasons not to.
