Dover’s incoming police chief says he’s looking forward to tackling public safety in the First State’s capital city.
Mayor Robin Christiansen officially introduced Captain Tom Johnson as the city’s new top cop Tuesday afternoon.
Christiansen is confident Dover made the right choice in selecting Johnson, who comes from the Upper Darby Police department in Pennsylvania where he is Captain of Detectives.
Christiansen says Johnson has the leadership, training and expertise Dover was looking for in its new chief. He also believes his experience in Upper Darby provides an advantage.
“The demographics of the communty where he served in Upper Darby Police Department are similar to the City of Dover," said Christiansen. "The ethnicity and the make-up of that community, while it doesn’t have a rural aspect to it, it is basically a suburban bedroom community that is basically what the City of Dover is.”
Hiring Johnson marks the first time in more than seven decades that Dover has hired an external candidate to be its chief, but Johnson says coming in from outside the Dover police ranks does not concern him. He notes he went through a similar experience in Upper Darby.
"That can cause some anixety. That can cause some concerns because they don't know me," said Johnson. "They will get to know me very quickly. They will know that I already experienced the same thing they are experiencing now. And as along as we all continue to be the pros that I know we are... I have absolutely no apprehensions. We're going to do what we do and then we are going to suddenly discover that any concerns that either oene of us had about the other I suspect will fall by the wayside."
Dover has seen a spike in shootings as 2019 ended and 2020 gets underway. Johnson says he has not been specifically briefed on those incidents, but has been paying attention from afar.
"I was very interested and very excited to read about the response from both the Dover PD and the agencies they collaborate with," said Johnson. "If anybody thinks they’re going to be successful in solving a crime problem with one agency or all by themselves, they’re sadly mistaken. So, the ability to work with other entities, other law enforcement agencies, I’m all about that.”
Johnson replaces Marvin Mailey, who retired last fall, and Deputy Tim Stump, who has been serving as interim Dover police chief
Christiansen says he expects Johnson to start in early February, once Johnson completes some projects he’s working on in Upper Darby.
