Ron Mieczkowski joins the command staff in a department long beset by conflict.
EDISON -- Newly minted Deputy Chief Ron Mieczkowski took the lectern in council chambers and, in short order, turned a celebration of his new rank into an impromptu muster.
"Let's step it up and let's go," he told the dozens of police in the audience. "It's all positive from here."
Mieczkowski is taking over as second in command in a department long beset by problems. One of them is misbehavior; he'll hold sway over discipline in the ranks ("No more of the nonsense," he said in an interview). Another is infighting, often caused by jealousy and recriminations after just these sorts of promotions.
But Mieczkowski, who joins a command staff led by Chief Thomas Bryan and fellow Deputy Chief Mark Anderko, told the assembled officers that they had to put that behind them.
"We need to be family again," Mieczkowski said.
Throughout Friday's ceremonies, the word family was a touchstone. His brother George is the former police chief; his son and nephew are officers in the department. He grew emotional, tears welling in his eyes, when he spoke about his late wife; he grew emotional again after the ceremony as he greeted dozens of current and former officers and their families.
George Mieczkowski -- the best cop Ron said has ever known -- came up from Florida to surprise his brother.
"He's spent 30 years in this job," George Mieczkowski, who retired in 2006, said. "He knows the people, he knows the town -- he'll make the right decisions."
Patrolman Matthew Mieczkowski pinned his father Ron's new badge on his uniform Friday.
Mieczkowski, 57, was Mayor Thomas Lankey's choice for the position; Lankey said that Mieczkowski has the chops to lead the department into the future.
"We're going to continue the process of becoming the best police force in the state of New Jersey," Lankey said. "It's only right -- it's already the best town in the state."
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Before taking over as deputy chief, Mieczkowski was a lieutenant, and he was able to skip over the test that determines who gets to become captain. That's allowed under town laws -- those same laws, however, were passed to put a special focus on the promotional test that Mieczkowski was able to skip. In the past, township officials said, personal and political connections held too much sway over hiring and promotions decisions.
Anderko, the other deputy chief, is out on major illness, the town said, so Mieczkowski is currently the only deputy chief at work. The Town Council passed a law earlier this year to allow for two deputy chiefs. It currently has four captains, down from a historic high of 10.
Chief Bryan said Mieczkowski would help him bring professionalism and accountability to the department, and also fight crime in the state's fifth-largest town -- by many measures, one of the safest of its size in the country.
"With the mayor's direction, we've really moved forward," Bryan said.
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.