The word “retirement” often evokes the connotation of being “gone fishing,” spending time with the family, traveling, or taking up new hobbies.##M:[more]##
While these things may be true for former police chief Elizabeth Bondurant, along with her retirement also came a career change, one that involves more responsibility — including the safety of the citizens around New Jersey.
At about the time Bondurant was retiring in October — a decision she had made in May — a position with the state Department of Homeland Security and Preparedness opened up and piqued her curiosity. By December, she was on the job. And while Bondurant could not go into the details, she does work in intelligence, and the job requires her to interact with law enforcement agencies from all parts of the state.
Bondurant says some of her duties include getting intelligence training programs out to various agencies and interacting with them. “It’s good because I’m still interacting with police departments, but not the enforcement aspect of it,” Bondurant says. “I still go to meetings, I still see people throughout the state that I have a good relationship with and who have helped me assimilate to this new position a little more easily.”
Bondurant earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from East Stroudsburg State College, and a master’s degree in criminal justice management from Jersey City State College. A graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, she is designated as a New Jersey Supervisory Certified Public Manager in the Law Enforcement Program.
A member of the Plainsboro Police Department since 1983, Bondurant worked her way up through the ranks, serving in the patrol division and detective bureau. She was appointed sergeant in 1987, lieutenant in 1994, police captain in 2004, and chief of police in 2007. Bondurant has served as the highest ranking officer since her time as captain, during which a civilian director of public safety oversaw the department, and has spent almost half of her career in administrative positions.
And Bondurant’s schedule is not clearing up anytime soon. She continues to work at Mercer County Community College, where she has taught a variety of courses as an adjunct professor for the MCCC criminal justice program, with coursework focus on law enforcement and corrections. Graduates from the program earn an associate in science degree and are prepared for careers in criminal justice and for transfer to four-year institutions.
She insists she has not closed the door on her passion for education, which she has combined over the course of her career with her other passion for law enforcement.
But the new job allows for her to continue what she does best. “I still feel as though I’m in the position to safeguard and protect the citizens of New Jersey, even though I’m not in an enforcement position,” she says of her new job.
“I’m still exploring what I’m going to be doing permanently,” she says. But the new job is “a good fit with my background.”
As for having left the Plainsboro Police Department in the hands of Richard Furda, the new chief, Bondurant says she thinks he is doing a great job continuing the work she has done there.
“He had a good vision to keep the department progressive and in tune with the issues that are specific to Plainsboro, and I think he has a good mentoring program in place to continue to train the officers to continue to move into supervisory and leadership positions in the department,” she says. “He’s putting his thumb print on how he wants to see the future of the police department go. It’s always evolving.”
Even though she is no longer a township employee, and despite her new responsibilities, Bondurant says she is still involved in the happenings of her hometown. “I’m still involved in knowing what’s going on, still interacting and talking to people that work in various places within the township — whether it’s the police department or one of the other offices upstairs,” Bondurant says.
While Bondurant’s retirement has not been normal she has found time to pursue one part of the cliche image. A fan of saltwater fishing, she got the chance to enjoy her hobby several times since retirement, and says she will be looking also to do a little more traveling.
“My philosophy is that life is what you make it,” she says. “I’ve enjoyed myself. I’ve made decisions to do what I really wanted to do. I live every day to its fullest.”
