Teaneck Honors Police Officials For Years of Dedication

The Township Council on Tuesday honored four current and retired Teaneck police officials for 25 years each of service to the township.  

The four - Deputy Police Chief Robert Carney, Detective Thomas Melvin, retired Detective Mark Fisco and Public Safety Telecommunications Supervisor Dorothea Costello - were praised for their longtime dedication over more than two decades.

“One of the greatest things about each one of these people up here tonight is that each one of them works just as hard as the day they actually started,” Police Chief Robert Wilson said at Tuesday’s council meeting.

The four honorees served in a range of assignments throughout their police careers, officials said.

Carney was captain of operations before being promoted to the department’s second-in-command in 2011. He also served as a burglary investigator, sergeant and lieutenant in the traffic bureau, according to Township Manager William Broughton.

Costello, the department’s first and only telecommunications supervisor, joined the force in 1987 as a dispatcher. She was honored with the Teaneck Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award last year and also serves on the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Broughton said Fisco retired in January as a detective. He joined the force in 1987, working scores of cases over a decorated career.

Melvin, a senior detective in the department’s general investigations squad, became a police officer in 1988 and is also a former PBA president, Broughton said. The detective is a member of the police honor guard and has earned numerous commendations.