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Chief:Darren White
Address:405 Main Street
Mantua NJ 08051
Phone:856-468-1920
Website:http://www.mantuatownship.com/departments/police/
Number of Officers:31
Population Served:15000
Specializations: Bike Patrol, DARE Program, K-9 Unit, Motorcycle, School Resource Officer, SLEO 1, SLEO 2, SWAT/Tactical, Traffic Unit
Mantua Township is located in the heart of Gloucester County, just south of the County Seat of Woodbury. It is 15.919 square miles and is bordered by Deptford and West Deptford Townships to the North; the Borough of Wenonah and Washington Township to the East; the Boroughs of Pitman and Glassboro to the South; Harrison Township to the Southwest and East Greenwich Township to the West. It is situated on an elevated bluff overlooking Mantua Creek, from which the Township derives its name. Mantua Creek is thought to be named after the Native American word “Manta,” meaning frog. The Mantua Creek was the chief source of navigation and transportation for both the Lenni-Lenape Native Americans and early settlers. Mantua Township was incorporated on February 23rd, 1853 at the Union Street school house. The first town meeting was then held on March 9th 1853 where Joseph Norris, John Haines, and Elijah Chew were appointed to the position of “Overseer of the Poor and Constables”. In the early 1900s the state passed legislation enabling municipalities to appoint special officers. On March 22nd 1917 the Township Committee organized a temporary special police department using members of the Township Fire Departments. The “Committee on Public Safety” was also formed to oversee the police force. The Police Chief was chosen, often being the current Fire Chief or Company President.
The current Mantua Township Police Department was established full-time in 1968. Thomas Connell was selected, with the help of the Police Chief’s Association, to serve as the first Chief of Police of the department, where he served until his retirement in 1980. Since then, there have been four additional Chiefs – Ronnie Walker, Graham Land, Rodney Sawyer, and Darren White (current Chief). Currently, the department consists of 27 sworn Officers, three part time SLEO I Officers, four SLEO 3 Officers, and one civilian Police Clerk. The Department services a mostly rural community and is home to just over 15,200 residents and over 5,600 homes as of the 2010 census. Additionally, the department took over policing responsibilities in June of 2018 for neighboring Wenonah Borough, home to over 2200 residents and 829 homes. Mantua has evolved from rural farmland to a very preferable residential community without an overabundance of commercial development. Homes range from singlewide mobile homes, town homes, and senior communities, to multi-million dollar estates. The Township also has several large chain stores to include Home Depot, Lowes, Kohl’s, Target and even a Starbucks. Residential and commercial growth has and will continue under the Townships recently revised Master Plan for development.