FENWICK ISLAND – The town council voted unanimously last week to ratify a contract with Fenwick Island’s new police chief.
On Friday, the Fenwick Island Town Council voted 6-0, with Councilman Paul Breger absent, to ratify a contract with the incoming police chief, Michael Morrissey. However, the attorney for outgoing Police Chief John Devlin said on Monday officials can expect legal action should his client’s employment contract not be restored.
“Unless a new Town Council is elected in August to fix this, all homeowners can expect a large increase in their property taxes to pay for the 7 figure jury award that is coming after the Chief sues the Town and Council,” said Thomas Neuberger, Devlin’s attorney.
With approval from the town council last week, Morrissey’s new role as the chief of the Fenwick Island Police Department will begin on Sept. 1, once the town’s contract with Devlin terminates on Aug. 31. Following the ratification of his contract, Morrissey came before community members last Friday to lay out his vision for the department.
“I want a police department we can all be proud of,” he said.
Following a 20-year career with the City of Wilmington Police Department, Morrissey began his tenure with the Amtrak Police Department, where he served in supervisory and management roles in the patrol and criminal investigations divisions in Wilmington, Del., Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
Mayor Natalie Magdeburger said a panel of local police chiefs had assisted the town in conducting interviews and narrowing down the candidate pool, which included both internal and external applicants. From there, the town council conducted interviews with the top three contenders.
“We had some good applicants,” she said, “and it was tough right until Mike came in.”
Magdeburger said Morrissey, a local resident, had provided the town with a plan for public safety in Fenwick. She said his knowledge of the town would be an asset.
“He has known this community for 20 years. He and his wife had a home in Bayside, and he now lives full time in Dagsboro,” she said. “He had observations about our town, observations about our public safety, some suggestions and a 90-day plan on how to focus attention on our Route 1 safety concerns as well as the general policing we would need in town and making our streets safe.
Magdeburger also highlighted Morrissey’s contact’s with the Office of Highway Safety, which she said would be beneficial when the town worked with the Delaware Department of Transportation on issues such as lights and crosswalks.
“He had really good innovative ideas on how we could address those concerns we had about making sure the vehicles that come through town slow down and that people stop at our crosswalks,” she added.
During his introduction last week, Morrissey said he was eager to begin working for the Town of Fenwick Island. He also acknowledged Fenwick Island Cpl. Nate Hudson, who was recognized earlier in the meeting for helping to resuscitate a beachgoer last month.
“This is what police work is all about, serving our community, being out in our community, being visible, being seen,” he said. “That will be one of the cornerstones of my administration coming in. Police officers out in the community, being visible, being approachable, quickly responding to emergencies and saving a life. That’s something to be very proud of.”
Morrissey ultimately said he was humbled to be selected as Fenwick Island’s new police chief.
“I look forward to being out in the community and talking to people …,” he said. “If you see me or my wife in a restaurant, say hi. We are always on the island. We’re very happy to be a bigger part of the community.”
Magdeburger said Morrissey will begin serving as a public safety liaison to the town council in advance of taking over the police chief position on Sept. 1. In the meantime, Devlin has hired an attorney in an effort to restore his employment contract.
In May, the town announced it would not renew Devlin’s employment agreement, which is set to expire on Aug. 31. Since that time, however, Devlin has claimed the termination was a result of an alleged security breach at the Fenwick Island Police Department.
He said Magdeburger had used a security access code to enter the police station on the evening of April 23 without permission and without an escort. He said only personnel certified by the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System (DELJIS) could enter the police station without an escort.
“She opened the door and walked in,” he said in a June interview.
Magdeburger has denied all allegations of a security breach. She said she had used a pass code the police chief personally provided her to obtain a hard copy of the police schedule she could use to schedule ride-alongs with officers the following week. She said she was escorted the entire time she was in the building and did not seek or was given any access to DELJIS information.
“I’m just trying to do my job and do it as well as I can,” she said in June. “It’s unfortunate an allegation like this was made in that circumstance. At the end of the day, I don’t believe I did anything wrong.”
In the wake of the incident, Devlin filed an ethics violation report to the Delaware attorney general’s office. His concerns were also shared with DELJIS.
