NORTHFIELD — “This will be my final call,” Capt. Stephen Steinecke said into his police radio at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, after walking out of the Northfield Police Department for the final time.
“It is an honor to congratulate Capt. Stephen Steinecke, badge #630. You will be missed but not forgotten,” was the return call. “You have successfully and fully concluded your career. We wish you all the best in retirement.”
Holding up a crossing guard stop sign, Steinecke joked, “I’ve already got a job” to a round of applause and congratulations.
Steinecke served 25 years with the Northfield Police Department following an 11-year career as an officer with Amtrak in New York City.
Among those present were son Stephen, daughter Sabrina and her boyfriend Andrew Armstrong, and girlfriend Karen Nardone.
The staff of City Hall, all but one of the City Council members (Brian Smith, head coach of softball at Mainland Regional High School, was otherwise engaged), fellow officers and friends gathered outside as Steinecke walked out of the station.
Also present were Chief Mark VonColln, Linwood Chief Steve Cunningham and Somers Point Chief Robert Somers, along with officers from their departments.
The 59-year-old said he would miss his co-workers.
“It’s bittersweet; these guys are like my family,” he said.
But he believes he has left the department in good shape.
“The department is the best that it’s been since I’ve been here. Over the last year and a half, Mark VonColln has been chief and the guys that were holding down the department a little bit, slowing us down, they’re all moved on and this is the best department in Atlantic County,” Steinecke said.
He is planning a week in Mexico and about a month of fishing.
“I’ll be back to work within a month,” he said. “You never really retire in New Jersey.”
– STORY and PHOTOS by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
