Mt. Laurel Township Council honored former Chief Dennis Cribben Jr. and publicly swore-in Stephen Riedener as the new chief of police.
Mt. Laurel Township publicly said goodbye to its former chief of police this week when former Chief Dennis Cribben Jr. was honored at a township council meeting for his retirement after 25 years with the Mt. Laurel Township Police Department.
The meeting, normally held in the courtroom of the municipal building, was moved to the Mt. Laurel Community Center to accommodate the large number of township officials, emergency services personnel, family members and other well wishers in attendance.
Cribben’s service to Mt. Laurel Township dates to October 1992, when he joined the Mt. Laurel Township Police Department as an officer out of the police academy.
Cribben, who was raised in Mt. Laurel, stayed with the department for his entire career, rising through the ranks to lead officer in January 2001, sergeant in December 2002 and lieutenant in April 2008, where he served as Operations Division commander to oversee all police patrol activities in Mt. Laurel.
With the retirement of former Chief Joseph Lehmann in August 2009, Cribben was appointed acting chief of police through March 2010, at which time he was officially promoted to chief of police.
At this week’s meeting, officials reviewed just some of the roles Cribben held during his time with the department, including EMT officer, assistant team leader of the department’s Tactical Team, firearms instructor, field training officer and deputy emergency management coordinator.
Officials also detailed just some of Cribben’s accomplishments, including the revival of the department’s canine unit that had been dormant for more than 12 years, overseeing a significant upgrade of the department’s information technology equipment, implementation of the department’s body-worn camera program, the creation the Junior Police Academy, two re-accreditations of the department by the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police and institution of the money-saving measure of hiring part-time special law enforcement officers to augment the department’s force.
Throughout his service, Cribben also received the Police State Supervisor of the Year award for 2005 and 2006, two lifesaving awards, several letters of commendation and numerous letters of appreciation from citizens.
During the meeting, Mayor Dennis Riley presented Cribben with a proclamation from council commending his service to the township, in addition to a United States flag that flew over the nation’s capital one day in August.
With the meeting also taking place on the same day as the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Riley said it was an appropriate time to recognize someone in Mt. Laurel’s community who had done an “exemplary and wonderful job” as its chief of police.
“It is with a grateful, grateful township that I present this proclamation,” Riley said.
As Cribben spoke to the crowd at the meeting, he recalled back to 1991 when he was filling out the application for his civil service test, and how he could chose any of the counties or municipalities in the state where he wished to work as an officer.
Cribben said the only choice he specifically marked was Mt. Laurel Township.
“I grew up in this town, this is where I wanted to work, and I was gifted enough to be accepted,” Cribben said.
Once at the academy, Cribben said many of his fellow recruits were envious knowing he was headed to Mt. Laurel’s police department.
“It didn’t take long to figure out that Mt. Laurel Police Department was a special police department,” Cribben said.
Throughout his 25 years of service, Cribben said the department’s reputation continued, as he’s heard praise for the department from all levels of government throughout the state.
Cribben attributed the department’s reputation to the individuals who served before him, those he served with and those who are continuing to serve now.
“It’s people that make an organization great,” Cribben said.
Cribben went on to thank all those he served with during his tenure, including his fellow members of the department, township council and other township officials. He also thanked his wife Beth, who he described as the most important person regarding his success.
Cribben also praised and offered his support to his successor, former Deputy Chief Stephen Riedener, who was also publicly sworn-in as the township’s new chief of police at the meeting.
Riedener began his career with the Mt. Laurel Police Department in January 1997, was promoted to sergeant in 2008, promoted to lieutenant in 2011 and promoted to deputy chief in 2016.
Riedener thanked Cribben for leaving the department on a positive trajectory and thanked him for the support he had offered, joking that Cribben would hearing from him.
“I still have your number,” Riedener said. “I know where you live.”
Also sworn-in for new positions at the meeting were former Lt. Judy Lynn Schiavone, promoted to deputy chief of police, former Sgt. Michael Rakauckas, promoted to lieutenant and assigned as the Operations Division commander, former Sgt. Ted Howell, promoted to lieutenant and assigned as the Office of Professional Standards commander and officer Dennis Christian, promoted to sergeant and assigned to the Patrol Bureau as a patrol sergeant.
Lt. James Gripp was also presented with a distinguished service award at the meeting for his retirement after 20 years of service with the department at the end of this month.
