You First
Woodland Park Chief of Police
Eileen Tiernan makes history
in Passaic County
Story and photos by Amber Ramundo
Woodland Park Police Department’s history is on display at the
entrance to police headquarters. Old framed photographs hang-
ing in the corridor date back to 1914, when it was known as the
West Paterson Police Department. Outside the building, a memo-
rial lists the names of sergeants, lieutenants and chiefs who served
throughout the years.
The dated photographs and names engraved on the monument
tell the story of the department’s leadership over time — and those
leaders were exclusively male.
But today, beyond the atrium of the department, a new chapter
of Woodland Park Local 173’s story begins. Eventually, a photo will
be hung on that wall among all the guys of Eileen Tiernan, who is
settling in as the first female chief of police in Passaic County.
“I’m moving in,” expresses Tiernan as she sits at the enormous
desk to which she is still adjusting. The office has a work-in-prog-
ress look, as she moves her belongings from her old space across
the hall where she served as captain. But the walls have already
begun to be filled with meaningful tokens from her history.
Photographs are on display of her grandfather, an original
member of NYPD Transit, and her mother, Patricia, holding the
Bible during Tiernan’s promotion ceremony to lieutenant in 2010.
Behind her there’s a mosaic of her team, the New York Mets, when
they won the 1986 World Series.
On the wall in front of her desk, a display pays tribute to her
dear friend Mary Ann Collura, a Fair Lawn 67 member who was
lost in the line of duty in 2003. Tiernan strategically placed Collura
where she can see her, a reminder of the female role model in law
enforcement who has inspired her through the ranks of her career.
“It all happened so fast,” Tiernan admits while looking around
her new space, dressed in the signature crisp white uniform fit for
a chief. “My whole career has kind of been about timing. This is an
opportunity of a lifetime.”
Only a couple of months ago, Tiernan thought her career was
nearing its end as she reached 25 years on the job. But when for-
mer Woodland Park Chief Anthony Galietti announced his sudden
Chief Eileen Tiernan stands in front of the wall displaying the history of the
West Paterson Police Department, before it became the Woodland Park
Police Department in 2009.
retirement, Tiernan was immediately approached by Woodland
Park Mayor Keith Kazmark, who asked if she would consider stick-
ing around a while longer to fill the vital leadership role.
“It was like a whirlwind,” Tiernan explains. “It was not a decision
that I was going to take lightly. It’s an opportunity that so many
people deserve but not many people get.”
After some deliberation, Tiernan accepted. As a result, history
was made in Passaic County on May 30, when Tiernan was sworn
in as acting chief of WPPD.
Tiernan’s promotion may have been unexpected, but she is
used to making history in Woodland Park. In 1993 she was hired as
the department’s first female officer and became the first female
member of West Paterson Local 173. At that time, females in law
enforcement were a rarity, but Tiernan didn’t care. Gender was not
going to hold her back from doing the job, regardless of what any-
one else on the job or in the community might have thought.
“I think other people thought about it more than I did,” she ad-
mits. “I always said, ‘I’m not going to use my gender to get ahead,
but nobody is going to use it against me.’ This was just something
I was going to do.”
And she did.
Making it on her own
When Jerry Tolomeo attended the Passaic County Police Acad-
emy in 1994, he was seated next to the only female in the class.
Tiernan and Tolomeo got to know each other well during the 20
weeks they spent at the academy. They withstood the pressure of
being assigned to sit in the back row, where the instructors were
constantly looking over their shoulders.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 44
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