Collingswood Promotes Police Officers, Appoints Firefighters

Collingswood borough leaders promoted three Collingswood police department officers and swore in two firefighters at the Monday local government meeting.

Twenty-five-year veteran Guy DeRitis was promoted from Det. Sgt. to Lieutenant, the latest the department has had since the retirement of Glenn Prince in 2012.

Patrolmen Kevin Carey and Steven Rydzewski, who also serves on the Collingswood Board of Education, both moved up to Sergeant.

Collingswood Mayor James Maley pointed out that the borough had enjoyed a legacy of service from the Rydzewskis and Careys, with Robert Rydzewski and William Carey protecting the borough for years, as lieutenant and captain, respectively.

The borough also appointed part-time firefighters Paul Bonamassa and Kyle Jarozynski to full-time salaried positions as Probationary Firefighters/EMTs, restoring the Collingswood fire department to its full complement of 17.

The money for those appointments was provided by a $239,000 federal SAFER grant that was announced in August.

Police career longevity has been a topic of conversation in the borough in the past few years, with possible layoffs and demotions on the table as recently as 2011, when both sides eventually ironed out the terms of a new labor deal that avoided them.

In January, the borough and the police department settled on a new, three-year contract.

Then, in May, Collingswood swore in two new officers, Kenneth Jacoby and Samuel Rocco, and posted in June an announcement to hire another.