'West Deptford is a Good Community, Full of Good People'

After 25 years in law enforcement, seven of which were spent as the West Deptford Chief of Police, Craig Mangano will be retiring from public service this week. 

The Mantua native worked the first five years of his police career in the Woodbury Police Department before coming to West Deptford in 1993 as a Patrolman. Mangano made Sergeant in August 1998, Lieutenant in December 2002, Deputy Chief in September 2003 and Chief in September 2006.

Mangano's quiet demeanor has provided a steady hand in the department for years, but now he's looking forward to some well-deserved relaxation of his own. 

We sat down with the chief to hear about his career, his future plans and what he believes the key values of the township to be.

Patch: After 20 years in West Deptford, what's changed in town since you first joined the force?

Mangano: You’re seeing a different society these days. Now seems like the time when we need to get out closer to the public, to engage the public in helping us to do our jobs and helping us to get closer to the kids in the community as well. 

I got out of the academy in January 1989 [when] police work was more along the lines of enforcement. Now police work has kind of morphed into a profession where you have enforcement, you have community relationships, so it’s kind of taken on more of a social aspect to the job as well.

West Deptford still has a feel of a small-town community, but not like it was before, because the population has grown more since I started here. Our crime here is very diverse. 

We go through everything from neighbor complaints to tragedies such as a murder once in a while. We have a little bit of everything that happens here in West Deptford.

Patch: You must have seen a lot in that time. Has your career affected the way that you look at people? 

Mangano: You come to this new, you have a tendency to become cynical because you see a lot of the worst in people. But as you go through your career...you see some good and you deal with people more.

You still get to see some of the things that can make you become cynical, but thank God that I get to speak to people on a different level now, so I can see the good in people, so I’m not walking away from here with a soured outlook.

It’s with anything in life; there’s good and there’s bad. I feel that we get to make a difference as police officers and as a police department. I feel that we get to guard or protect the weaker or the innocent people from the stronger criminal element that’s out there today.

Patch: Can you share some stories about the more memorable cases you've worked on?

Mangano: I’ve been on a couple bad calls. We’ve had some major things happen in town during my career...homicides that will shake a town, and it affects a lot of people. 

I’ve also gotten to see the good things that people do for one another. Recently we had some residents in town who were honored for saving someone from a pool. 

When people chip in to help each other, that’s when you get to walk away from a call and you get to say, "I got to do something good today to help someone or save a life."

I had one happen in Woodbury: I rolled up on a domestic violence scene and the male was physically choking his girlfriend to where I had to intervene and pull him off her while he was fighting me. I knew I had to finish what I was doing in arresting him because if not, he probably would have killed her. 

I’ve rolled up on a couple of burglaries in progress that we were able to stop and arrest. One was on Gateway Blvd., and we actually ended up catching the people inside the building. We were able to process them and charge them without incident. 

I’ve been on several SWAT calls that have had a very positive outcome, which could have gone bad at the time. But we were able to walk away without officers or civilians getting hurt, which will always be remembered.

Patch: What does your family think about your retirement?  

Mangano: They can’t believe it’s here. They’re kind of surprised that the career went by so quickly, but all three of them (wife Jeanne, and sons Eric, 20, and Jake, 16—ed.) are very happy for me and agree with me that it’s time to retire. 

They say that [for] a police department of this size, seven years [as chief] is optimal. Anything more, you might start to burn out a little bit. I’m a true believer in letting the next guy come in with some new ideas and some fresh ideas to make some positive changes in the police department. I feel you have to have that.

My two boys, I’m very proud of them. They do great in school. They’re good, respectful kids. And my wife has always been supportive during my career. 

A police officer has to have that support from home in order for that career to go in a positive direction and to have a good family life. If you don’t have that support you’re going to lose one or the other. You’re either not going to do well at work or the family life is going to suffer.

Patch: So what's next for you after all this?

Mangano: I’m going to take a few weeks; a month off. I’m going to do some things around the house. And I’m going to fish. I tournament bass fish. My son Jake does it as well.

Whatever I do, it’s going to be in the private sector. I’m not saying anything bad about government, but I’ve been working in the public sector for 25 years. I’m either looking at getting into corporate security or driving as well. I towed small, medium-duty and heavy-duty tractor trailers; thinking about putting my driving hat back on. 

Patch: What do you like about driving?

Mangano: I like the idea of getting in a truck, getting on the road, and having some alone time on the road. This job and this career has been very busy. One of the things I liked about towing was going on the road and seeing different places and meeting different people, and then coming home at the end of the day and being done work.

One of the things I’m looking forward to is taking this [phone] and putting it on the kitchen counter and doing some yard work or playing with the family. With this job you are on call 24-7, 365. The only time you’re not is if you’re out of the country on a vacation somewhere where you don’t have a cell phone.

I’m looking forward to slowing down a little bit, because this has been a very fast-paced career. Not only are you coming into the office Monday through Friday and having your office hours, but there are also many things that I belong to that will also call for times of meetings on weeknights, functions to attend on weekends. 

But with it being fast-paced, the career has gone by very quickly.

Patch: As you leave the department, what would your goals be for the future of policing in West Deptford?  

Mangano: I think some of the goals are to maintain the professionalism in policing that this police department performs now. Maybe some goals are getting closer to the community through community policing. 

Every year we see budgets dwindle, and being able to keep up on equipment, training and staffing in the future is a big goal; being able to maintain and improve on those items. 

As time goes on, the bad guys always seem to get the upper hand on ways to combat the way that we combat crime. We always need to come up with new ideas and new equipment and training that prepares us in dealing with those changes.

I think one thing that we’ve been able to do here in this police department, even though we get to see the financial shape that the township’s in, we’ve been able to maintain our equipment, we’ve been able to purchase equipment we’ve needed, we’ve been able to hire the officers that we’ve needed.

I thank the township committee and the prior committees because I feel like I’ve had their support.

Patch: You've mentioned community-building as a key element of keeping West Deptford safe. What do you see as the positive impact of better relationships among neighbors? Why are people so angry?

Mangano: People seem just to become angry very quickly. I’ve seen people change over time, and people react differently to things that happen, and they react in a negative way. People seem to be so quick to lash out. 

You need to sit back and not have those knee-jerk reactions; don’t take those violent lash-outs. Sit back, look at the problem, and come up with productive ways to remedy the problem. 

I think these days it has become too easy for people to become mad, and point fingers at other people instead of saying, "We do have an issue here; we need to work on this together as a community to fix what we think might be wrong." 

People need to respect one another and know that people have differences of opinions, but there’s more than one way to find a remedy. It’s just too easy for them to step back and point fingers. 

People just need to sit back and take a more logical and well-thought-out approach instead of just letting their emotions and their anger take hold, because nothing gets done. 

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Patch: When you look back at your career, are there people who were mentors, helpers, positive influences? Anyone you'd like to thank?

Mangano: I’ve had the support from the committee, I’ve had the support from the police officers here, I’ve had support of other police chiefs. 

I ended up president of the [Gloucester] County Chiefs Association for two years, but when I first started as chief, I started going to the meetings, and I found that there’s no better mentor than another chief with experience. You never need to reinvent a wheel to fix a problem or to institute and create a new program. 

We can sit here and talk about my career and how great this police department is, but I credit most of that to the officers that work here. I don’t think that there’s ever been a time when I haven’t been proud to be the chief of the West Deptford Police Department.

Some of the work ethic that you see that goes throughout this place is extraordinary. Some of the officers that just step up and do more than what’s expected, do things on their own time, is impressive. 

I feel that I’ve been very fortunate to have served with the men and women of the police department. These men and women care about what’s going on in town. They care about this police department; they care about this community. 

It made my job easier in seeing that the township received the most professional police services that it could. 

West Deptford is a good community, full of good people. I think sometimes today there are times when people look at some of the negative that takes place in the community, but you always have to remember the good that’s here. 

We have a good, solid base of good families that live in town, and we have a good police department that cares about those families. I just want to remind them that this is a good town. 

I’m very happy that I have raised my family here, and that I continue to raise my family here. My kids went through the school system. The recreation that’s here, the schools that are here, has all been a positive for me throughout my career and my life to make me glad or proud to say that I live in West Deptford.