By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – “The time just seems right,” said Darren McConnell, chief of the Red Bank Police Department and current interim borough administrator, about his decision to retire at the end of July, soon after the new council-manager form of government takes over in the borough.
McConnell has served in the borough’s police department for the past 35 years and stepped into the position of interim borough administrator two years ago when former administrator Ziad Shehady resigned in April 2021.
Although McConnell said he has been thinking about retiring for the past couple of months, he announced his retirement in an email to borough officials Friday, June 16, to ensure a smooth transition period before the government reorganizes next month.
On July 1 new members of council will be sworn in as Red Bank transitions to a council-manager form of government, voted into being by residents in the November elections. New council members were elected in May.
With the change in government, the new council is expected to move forward with hiring a full-time business manager, “which I agree with,” McConnell told The Two River Times in an interview June 20. “But for me, it doesn’t make it worthwhile to remain in just the police chief’s position.”
McConnell explained that his pension has “long been maxed out,” with not much to gain by staying on the job any longer. He clarified that his intention is to use the experience he got both as a police chief and administrator to “most likely seek employment as a business administrator in a municipality.”
The retirement announcement doesn’t necessarily mean McConnell is saying goodbye, though. “I love working in Red Bank,” he said. “I live here, so, you know, it’s an ideal job for me.” Whether he would consider applying when the business manager position eventually opens up in Red Bank, McConnell said, “It depends on the timing,” since he must abide by specific pension rules that require “a complete separation” from the borough for 90 days “before I can even have any conversations about the position.”
However, if the position is open after his separation period has passed, then “I could and most likely would apply for it,” he said.
Born in Hoboken, McConnell, 54, grew up in Rumson and has lived in the Two River area most of his adult life. Hired at the age of 19 to work at the Red Bank Police Department, he was promoted to sergeant after seven years and continued progressing from there. “Very few people leave the police department here and go on to a different department. It’s very rare,” he said, noting that the department “functions like a family.”
The Red Bank Police Department currently consists of 39 officers, including one captain and four lieutenants; the borough council will be appointing one of them as the new chief.
The department is credited with many initiatives since McConnell joined in 1988. Shortly, after he was promoted to chief, McConnell started Red Bank’s first canine unit. The department used to outsource these services from other agencies before that. He was also instrumental in increasing the level and amount of training for police officers for active shooter training, diversity training and mental health crisis training.
“I think our officers are better equipped now and better trained now than they ever have been in the last 10 years,” McConnell said.
The article originally appeared in the June 22 – 28, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
