By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
MAYS LANDING — Atlantic County Sheriff Eric Scheffler of Northfield appears to have defeated challenger “Tokyo” Joe O’Donoghue of Egg Harbor Township.
Scheffler, a Democrat, received 69,197 votes to O’Donoghue’s 58,503.
Scheffler retired as a lieutenant with the Atlantic City Police Department, where he served from 1992 to 2015. He later worked as a one-on-one special-education aide for Mainland Regional High School from 2015-17.
The Atlantic City High School graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Stockton University and a certificate of intellectual development and disabilities from Rutgers University’s Elizabeth M. Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities.
Scheffler said before the election that he believes his law enforcement experience makes him well qualified to continue in his position.
“I served, supervised and commanded in the largest policing agency in South Jersey — the Atlantic City Police Department — in the patrol and training divisions. I supervised and commanded critical incidents ranging from fatal accidents and natural disasters to the Atlantic City triathlon, and served as operations commander for Atlantic City’s first super concerts,” he said, adding that he was instrumental in creation of the first in-house in-service program in the department.
Scheffler said he created a modern-day field officer training program, was instrumental in addressing officers involved in accidents and implemented a vehicle operations program.
“I am an instructor in 22 different law enforcement areas and have personally created 11 different law enforcement instructor courses,” he said. “Nineteen police departments in New Jersey are currently using my programs, including the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.”
Scheffler, who was first elected as sheriff in 2017, said he would like to continue serving in the position to “continue redirecting the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office’s mission to focus on professional development programs that empower staff to create leaders that will result in a higher level of both efficiency and professionalism within the department.”