The Hopewell Township Police Department is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a full-time police department this year.
The 50th anniversary event is scheduled for Saturday June 8, 2024 at 1 pm at Woolsey Park. There will be vendors, food trucks, games, etc., and a newly rebuilt retro police car alongside current vehicles.
As part of the observance, HTPD patrol vehicles will have a 50th anniversary decal, and officers will be wearing a 50th anniversary badge. The Department also will be selling 50th anniversary patches and coins along with supporter shirts at the event.
See below for more on the histories of the Township, Pennington, and Hopewell police departments – which are still rather unfinished.
Hopewell Township Police History – 25th Anniversary
The Hopewell Township Police Department is located in the municipal complex at 201 Washington Crossing Pennington Road, Titusville, NJ.
The department apparently was started in the 1920’s or early 1930’s as a part-time operation. The first Chief of Police was Clifford Snook. The full-time township police department celebrating its anniversary this year began around the clock patrols on July 1, 1974 (instead of passing calls after midnight to the State Police barracks). (See the Hopewell Township Police Department History page.)
The Hopewell Township Police 25th Anniversary in 1999 was memorialized with a calendar and a 19-page brochure.
- The 25th Anniversary brochure (1974-1999) lists then-current department members and past officers, with photos.
It also has a law enforcement TV trivia page, and sponsor advertisements from local businesses.
== View the HTPD 25th Anniversary Brochure (PDF) ==
- The 25th Anniversary 1999 calendar has profusely illustrated sections covering the decades from the 1970s to the 1990s. These cover activities including D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), Traffic Safety, C.O.P.P.S. (Community Policing), and the Police Basic Life Support Unit (BLS).
Plus there are looks at the state of the art in department computing, and the 24-7 communications center for emergency 9-1-1 calls.
== View the HTPD 25th Anniversary Calendar (PDF) ==
Pennington Borough Police History
The Pennington Borough Police Department is located at 30 North Main Street, in the set-back complex with Borough Hall and the Library.
Pennington Profile (1966) by Margaret J. O’Connell provides vignettes of the history of the police in Pennington Borough, including:
- In 1935, Arvin L. Warren was named the first full time police chief.
- In 1957, the borough had crime-free year due to Chief Clarence Eshelman (the only police officer), described as “an experienced diplomat in ironing out the minor frictions that inevitably arise in daily living.”
- 1957 also saw the first use of speed timers to discourage speeding.
- By 1958, the force was enlarged to six special police officers.
Does anyone have more on the history of the Pennington Borough Police Department?
Hopewell Borough Police History
The newspapers have reports of Hopewell Borough Police marshals and deputies back to at least 1925, and they were early responders to the first calls about the Lindbergh kidnapping.
Then in 1983, the Hopewell Borough Police Department was consolidated into the Township.
- Left: New Hopewell Borough Police vehicle to be used as a police car and civil defense ambulance, 1955 [Trenton Evening Times, 6/8/1955]
– Left to right: Patrolman Thomas Fillebrown (later Chief), Police Chief Roland S. Harkens, and Patrolman Thomas P. Arena
- Right: Hopewell Borough Police before consolidation into the Township, Dec. 1982 [Hopewell Valley News, 12/30/1982]
– Back: Officers Terry Marotta, James Roman, Kenneth Allen, and Mike Marotta
– Front: Police Chief Robert M. Dodson
Does anyone have more on the history of the Hopewell Borough Police Department?
Hopewell Borough Police Chronology
The following chronology provides a rough timeline for the known Hopewell Borough police chiefs and officers (also called marshals and deputy marshals). It is based mainly on research in local newspapers:
- 1925 – Marshal Harry Wolfe
- by 1926 – Marshal Charles E. Williamson – George Schomp & Edward A. Briggs deputies
- by 1932 – Chief Harry Wolfe – Charles E. Williamson
- by 1935 – Marshal Charles E. Williamson (testified at Lindbergh trial)
- 1935 – Chief Garrett Breese – Charles E. Williamson & George Schomp
- …1940 – Marshal Garrett Breese – Harry Wolfe & George Schomp
- …1946 – Marshal Garrett Breese – Harry Wolfe & Thomas P. Arena
- by 1950 – Chief Walter Benson
- by 1951 – Constable Charles Williamson – Harry Wolfe Special Officer
- by 1955 – Chief Roland S. Harkens – Thomas Fillebrown & Thomas P. Arena
- 1956 – Chief George Hall (3 months, Q1 1956)
- by 1958 – Chief Thomas Fillebrown – Joseph Rieser & Herbert Gillis
- 1967 – 1982 – Chief Robert M. Dodson –
Terry Marotta, James Roman, Kenneth Allen, & Mike Marotta … - 1/1983 – Hopewell Borough Police consolidated into Township
Please contact us if you have more information, photos, or other materials on the history of these local police departments.
More on Hopewell Valley Police Departments
Posts
- Hopewell Police History & Township 50th Anniversary – With histories of the local departments – Hopewell Township, Pennington, and Hopewell.
- Hopewell Township Police – 50th Anniversary Brochure – and materials
Materials
- View Hopewell Valley Police Materials in the Pamphlet Collection
- View Hopewell Valley Police photos in the Image Gallery
In the early 60s Malcolm Joiner was the Township Police Chief and patrolled with a Ford Falcon. He lived in the house that is now the nj Washington Crossing Park office. Not sure if he was full or part time then. Part times were eventually added. Elwood Barnhart and ? Lawrence. I think Henry Way was also part time. I recall them having about a 1965 or so Full size Ford patrol car.