GLEN ROCK − Police Chief Dean Ackermann headed off to retirement on March 31 after serving 40 years in the department.

A “final walk-out ceremony” was held at the Glen Rock Police Headquarters on Tuesday to honor the career of Ackermann.

“I can’t believe it has been 40 years. I left the place better than I found it and I left it in the hands of a great leader who is going to take the department to new heights,” said Ackermann

About 100 people from the community came to see Ackermann’s farewell which included many current and former police officers along with the family and friends of the retired police chief.

Ackermann took the podium on the warm spring afternoon and first thanked his wife for being by his side throughout his career. He thanked the Glen Rock police department for their support to him and thanked everyone who showed up to the walkout.

Ackermann was named the chief of police in 2016, having prior positions of detective and sergeant. He joined local law enforcement in 1986. Prior to his time with the Glen Rock Police Department, Ackermann worked as a New Jersey Transit Police officer, assigned to look over towns Newark, East Orange and Hoboken.

Tuesday’s ceremony was also a passing of the torch moment in Glen Rock as Ackermann introduced the new police chief, Michael Trover. Ackermann presented Trover with the chief police badge, which he said would be his last act as the Glen Rock police chief.

Trover has been a member of the Glen Rock police department for 20 years and served as captain at the department. He was officially sworn in as chief on March 25.

Like many North Jersey towns, major crime was low in Glen Rock during the years of Ackermann’s tenure as police chief. New Jersey crime statistics, which localized in 2020, show no murders and rapes were reported in the last six years in Glen Rock. From that time frame, only three robberies were reported, all in 2022.

The Glen Rock PBA presented Ackermann with a plaque as they wished him good luck on his retirement.

“We want to wish you the very best. I know Glen Rock and the surrounding communities are indebted to you for all that you have done for all the residents,” said Assemblywoman Lisa Swain at the ceremony.

The ceremony finished with Ackermann taking photos with his family and the generations of those who worked in the Glen Rock police department.

OAKLYN, N.J. (WPVI) — A Camden County auto shop owner says masked thieves stole three of their most expensive vehicles during an early morning break-in Saturday.

The incident happened just after 6:20 a.m. at Saifo Auto Sales in Oaklyn.

Surveillance video shows several masked suspects arriving in what appears to be a newer gray BMW, reversing into the lot, and using a bolt cutter to break into the building.

Owner Tarek Saifo said the suspects appeared to act with precision.

“It didn’t seem like a coincidental theft; it seemed like someone who knew exactly where they were going. They knew what time to go,” said Saifo.

Saifo said three vehicles were taken: a 2020 BMW 4030, a white 2014 BMW 615, and a 2013 Infiniti M37. He said the thieves also took tools and a TV, but left behind the receiver that contained the shop’s surveillance footage.

Saifo says it will cost him about $34,000, and added that the suspects appeared to know where the vehicles’ keys were kept.

The business has only been operating for three months in Oaklyn. Previously, they were in Delran for four years. Saifo said its location along a busy highway may have made it an easy target.

“We got a security system installed, put bars on the windows and we’re just trying to make sure this never happens again,” he said.

Saifo said the financial impact is significant, noting the business does not have theft insurance.

“It’s just hard as a small business trying to recover from this. It’s going to take us years if we ever will,” he said.

Camden County police are investigating.