Council makes it official: Roth is new police chief

BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

CLARE MARIE CELANO With his wife, Joanne, holding the Bible, and Municipal Clerk Linda Cottrell reading the oath of office, Capt. Mitch Roth becomes Freehold Borough's new police chief. See story, page 35. FREEHOLD - The borough's new police chief has a lot of ideas and plans he is anxious to implement in his department and his enthusiasm for his new position is clearly visible.

Mitch Roth, 46, was named Freehold Borough's new police chief and took his oath of office at the Borough Council's May 7 meeting. He was sworn in by Municipal Clerk Linda Cottrell, with his wife, Joanne, and two sons at his side.

Roth has been a police officer for 24 years, most recently serving as a captain. He served as the officer in charge of the department since April 1, following the retirement of Michael Beierschmitt.

Roth thanked and praised his wife for her "tremendous patience, support and understanding." He said the past six months during the transition as he took charge of the police department have been difficult on his family.

The new chief is a graduate of Freehold Township High School and Monmouth College (now Monmouth University), where he majored in sociology and criminal justice. He earned a master's degree in resources, training and development at Seton Hall University.

Roth said he wants to increase communication between the police department and the community. He said one way of doing this could be having officers meet a resident in his or her home for something as simple as a chat over coffee.

"If we can put aside our personal agendas for the good and welfare of the Freehold Borough community, we can achieve what we all want - a comfortable, satisfying quality of life in our town," the chief said.

Roth said he considers himself the "facilitator" of the police department. He said he told his officers, "This is your department. I will give you the resources and open forums for ideas, but you have to decide which direction you want the department to go in."

Roth said he is willing to do whatever it takes to make things happen for the department and for the town.

"We need to think collectively, not individually," he said.

The chief said he wants to empower and give authority to his officers to carry out certain details and to implement certain programs in the department.

"This position will require me to move toward more community interaction, more face-to-face interaction to get this message out and to achieve the department's vision of better quality of life in town," Roth said. "Whatever programs, details or projects that are implemented, their success is a direct reflection of the energy and effort we put forth. This success is a direct reflection of the conscientiousness and the diligence of our officers."

There are 32 officers, including the chief and the detective bureau, four special officers and 10 civilian employees in the police department.