An ordinance to establish, maintain, regulate and control a police department in the township of Parsippany-Troy Hills was first passed on January 22, 1931. Encompassed by Hanover Township until May 9, 1928, the newly separated Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills was policed by Special Officers before 1931. After its incorporation in 1931, the police department in then-rural Parsippany was headed by first Police Chief William Callahan, and the second-in-command on the two man police force, Special Officer Leo D’Orsi. Chief Callahan never completely recovered from abdominal operations in 1936. On the day of his untimely death in 1937 he had been on duty and went home for lunch. He died at home at age 35. He was Chief for seven years. After Chief Callahan’s death in 1937, Leo D’Orsi, who moved from Hudson County where he had also served as a Special Officer, was selected to take over and became the township’s second Chief of Police.
With a police career spanning more than 40 years, D’Orsi would be Chief in Parsippany for thirty-three years, and during those years he fashioned the three man force he took over into a 62 man department, the largest and highest paid in Morris County. Under his command, Parsippany was the first police municipal force in Morris County to have a full-time Narcotics Squad. Juvenile Section, Traffic Section and Investigative Division. He founded the Parsippany Police Athletic League (PAL) and served as one of its directors.
After Chief D’Orsi’s retirement on December 31, 1970, Elwood “Ellie” P. Fox, was appointed the department’s third Chief of Police in 1971. Under Chief Ellie Fox the department would continue to grow from 62 officers to 111, and also added specialized units such as K-9 and an Emergency Response Team. After Chief Fox’s retirement in 1988, Michael T. Filippello was named the fourth Chief of Police. Under Chief Filippello’s direction, in 1990 Parsippany P.D. had the distinction of becoming the second municipal police department in New Jersey to achieve accreditation under CALEA, The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, an independent accrediting authority by the four major law enforcement membership associations. The department also moved into its new state-of the-art headquarters in November of 2004. Chief Filippello retired in July 2006, and Deputy Chief Michael Peckerman was named the department’s fifth Chief of Police. Parsippany’s 100+ officers continue to serve the largest township in Morris County with its Patrol Division and Traffic Section, Investigative Division comprising Adult and Juvenile Sections, Support Services Division including the Planning & Research Section, and the Professional Standards Division. DARE is taught by trained officers in each of the eight grammar schools and two parochial schools. Juvenile Detectives serve as School Resource Officers in each of the township’s two high schools. With over 50,000 residents and a daytime population that swells to 150,000, officers continue to serve in the proud tradition that was established in 1931.
Department History Slideshow