Contact: John Nalbone
Robbinsville Township
Office of Communications & Public Information
(609) 918-0002. Ext. 129
ROBBINSVILLE, NJ - (September 28, 2016) - Mayor Dave Fried presided over the official swearing-in ceremony for new Fire Chief Dan Schaffener, Robbinsville Police Lieutenant William Swanhart, and Sergeants Adrian Markowski and Peter Galazka Wednesday at the Senior Center.
Chief Schaffener has entered his 19th year with Robbinsville (formerly Washington Township) Fire Department, including the last four as its Deputy Chief. Mr. Schaffener served as Acting Lieutenant during an extended absence of a career Captain early in his career and received two citations for his accomplishments during emergency incidents from 1998 to 2001.
Highly respected by his peers and administration, Robbinsville's new Chief is currently responsible for all administrative and operational aspects of his department, including incident command, policy, budgeting, training, discipline, emergency planning and staff supervision. He also has gone above and beyond to minimize the burden on taxpayers by writing countless grants, including 14 approvals for a staggering total of $1.2 million.
Lieutenant Swanhart will mark his 10th year with the Robbinsville Police Department in December. During his tenure, Mr. Swanhart has been assigned to the Patrol Division, Traffic Enforcement Unit and the Criminal Investigations Unit. He was promoted to Sergeant in July of 2013 and was named "Officer of the Year" in 2011.
Sergeant Adrian Markowski was hired by the Robbinsville Township Police Department in February, 2009 and has been assigned
to the Patrol Division and the Criminal Investigation Unit. He also has served as a Field Training Officer, Evidence Officer and an Internal Affairs Officer.
Sgt. Markowski was named one of three R. Peter Hodge Valor Award winners by The 200 Club of Mercer County in 2015, and was the RPD "Officer Of The Year" in 2012. In January, Mr. Markowski was assigned to the Mercer County Homicide Task Force, where he served as both support and lead Detective on numerous murder investigations resulting in arrest.
Another former RPD "Officer of the Year," Sergeant Peter Galazka joined the department in January of 2002 and was assigned to the Patrol Division.
Sgt. Galazka later moved to the Detective Bureau and has been working in the criminal investigation unit for the past nine years, where he has received multiple commendations. Mr. Galazka has also is a former Robbinsville Schools Resource Officer and was an integral part of the district's D.A.R.E. program for many years.
-RT-