Three New Officers Join GTPD, One Promoted

Monday night's township council meeting included more than just accolades for the Gloucester Township Police Department.

Prior to accepting an award for the township's efforts for National Night Out in 2012, the police department welcomed three new officers, Kevin Schultz, Daniel Ritz and Charles Dewalt, to the force. Thomas Knapp was also promoted to sergeant at the same ceremony.

Police Chief W. Harry Earle introduced all four officers to those in attendance on Monday night as Mayor David Mayer swore in each individually.

All three new officers are graduates of a Black Horse Pike Regional School District high school. Schultz, a 2004 graduate of Triton High School, is a U.S. Marine. He was deployed to Iraq from May 2006 through May 2007 and currently serves as the sergeant for a Marine Corps Reserve Battalion.

Ritz, another former graduate of Triton High School, served as a volunteer firefighter at the Chews Landing Fire Department since he was 16. He was part of the Camden County Fire Task Force that was deployed to Toms River, NJ, after Hurricane Sandy. Ritz, whose cousin is also a Gloucester Township Police officer, has worked as a Class I Special Officer within the department since 2009.

Dewalt graduated in 2008 from Timber Creek High School, where he was a star basketball player. Prior to joining the Gloucester Township Police Department, he worked as a security guard for the Virtua Hospital System since 2009.

Knapp, who was promoted to sergeant on Monday night, joined the Gloucester Township Police Department in 2006. He is a member of both the department's Honor Guard Unit and the Special Response Team. Like Schultz, Knapp is also a U.S. Marine. He was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and 2004 and continues to serve in the Marine Corps Reserves.