By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
LINWOOD — City Council appointed Capt. Jason Weber as acting police chief and Lt. Steve Cunningham as acting captain Wednesday, Dec. 9.
Weber replaces Chief John Hamilton and Cunningham replaces Weber in the command structure.
If Weber is later appointed as chief, he would be the Linwood Police Department’s fourth top cop in the past five years.
Hamilton took over the job April 1 from Doug Carman, who retired effective March 31 after 25 years on the force. Carman had been promoted to the position in 2015, following an agreement in which Linwood and Northfield shared a chief.
No information was available about the status of Hamilton’s employment. Calls to Hamilton’s number at the police station were routed to Weber’s voicemail.
Last year, Carman and Hamilton settled a $400,000 whistleblower lawsuit with the city they filed in 2011, claiming a hostile work environment under former chief Jim Baker. The settlement called for each officer to receive $143,088.67, while their lawyer was paid $113,822.66, according to published reports.
After Baker retired, Carman was next in line to be police chief. Instead, Linwood signed an agreement with Northfield to share its chief, Colin Hickey, a Northfield resident who served on the Linwood police force 25 years. The towns ended that agreement in 2015, when Carman was named police chief and Hamilton was promoted to captain.
City Councilman Brian Heun, who oversees public safety, did not respond to requests for comment. Weber and Cunningham also ignored requests for further information.
Mayor Darren Matik wrote in a text:
“Presently, there are some confidential personnel matters in the Police Department, which are being addressed. Inasmuch as council is restricted and is unable to discuss personnel matters publicly, no further comment can be made.
“During the interim and until a resolution has been reached in this matter, Jason Weber will serve as acting chief of police and Steve Cunningham will serve as acting captain of the Linwood Police Department.”
City Clerk Leigh Ann Napoli would say only that “they are acting positions.”
The city also reappointed of Special Class Officer Anthony Disciascio, who works as a school resource officer at Mainland Regional High School.
DiSciascio retired in 2018 as a lieutenant after 25 years with the Somers Point Police Department, where he worked as the Traffic Safety Unit coordinator, a member of the Fatal Accident Response Team, hostage negotiator and as a school resource officer.
