By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
After protecting Sea Isle City for three and a half years as its police chief, Tom McQuillen is moving on to tackle another challenging job.
“My daughters are arguing. I’m a full-time referee. That’s my job now,” McQuillen joked during an interview Thursday.
Although he poked fun at his new role as stay-at-home dad, his decision to retire as police chief at the age of 49 was driven by his decision to spend more time with his wife, Maria, and their daughters, Adyson, 14, and Alyssa, 11.
“This was something that I’ve been deliberating with my family for the last few months,” he said. “It was time for a change. It wasn’t something I made in haste. When I went over this with my family, I came back with the same decision. The most important thing was to spend time with my family.”
His last day as police chief was Dec. 22. His retirement capped a law enforcement career that began in 1993 as a seasonal officer. In 1995, he became a police dispatcher and also served as a seasonal officer again. He joined the Sea Isle Police Department in 1999 as a full-time officer.
McQuillen climbed the ranks, becoming a sergeant in 2009, a lieutenant in 2012 and a captain in 2015. He was named police chief in March 2018. He said that as a rookie patrolman, it was always his dream to someday become chief.
“It has been my goal my entire career to get to this position. I’m very humbled and honored to have achieved this,” he said in an interview after he was sworn in as chief in 2018.
He emphasized Thursday that he always considered it an honor to serve as police chief in the town where he grew up on 47th Place, the sixth of eight children raised by Joan and Frank McQuillen.
“I hope that I was up to the challenge,” he said while expressing his gratitude to Mayor Leonard Desiderio, City Council and City Business Administrator George Savastano for their trust in appointing him to head the department.
Capitalizing on his deep roots in the community, the local kid-turned cop immediately used his position as police chief to build even stronger ties between the department and Sea Isle’s residents, civic groups and business owners.
“I would like that to be my legacy – the inroads we made with the officers to improve our relations with the community and the citizenry,” he said.
His efforts to strengthen community relations included establishing the Police Summer Camp for local middle-school students and the Coffee With a Cop program, an informal get-together with local residents to discuss community issues over a cup of coffee.
“Community outreach was definitely one of my most important things I’ve done,” McQuillen said.
When he took the job as chief, he promised that there would be changes to the police department under his leadership.
“I think I left the place a little bit better than I found it. No slight to my predecessor,” McQuillen said, looking back at his tenure.
McQuillen succeeded former Police Chief Tom D’Intino, who retired in January 2018 after a 28-year career with the department, including 10 years as chief.
It will be up to the mayor and City Council to approve McQuillen’s successor. For now, Capt. Anthony Garreffi is serving as “officer in charge” until a new chief is named.
Although Sea Isle is a sleepy shore town of about 2,000 full-time residents during the winter months, it explodes with a summer vacation population that ranges from 50,000 to 70,000 people.
This past summer, McQuillen and the police department had to respond to an outbreak of unruly behavior, public drunkenness, vandalism and theft by groups of teenagers and young adults roaming through the resort.
Sea Isle increased the number of police patrols on the beaches, Promenade and downtown business district and also closed the entrances to the beaches at 10 p.m. each night to crack down on the rowdiness. By the end of summer, the police response was declared a success by city officials.
McQuillen noted that being Sea Isle’s police chief “is very demanding.”
“It’s challenging and time-consuming. It’s all-encompassing. It requires considerable attention and effort,” he said.
Now that he has retired, McQuillen said he plans to spend the next two months simply relaxing and enjoying time with his family. He is unsure of his future beyond that – except for his duties as “referee” to his daughters.
“They’re doing a heck of a number on me,” he said, laughing, of his daughters. “I think I’m 0-4 now.”
