On April 26, Robbinsville Township announced it had hired Lt. Chris Nitti to fill the vacancy created by Martin Masseroni’s retirement. Masseroni had served at RPD for 35 years, and as chief for 12.
A Hamilton resident, Nitti, 41, is no stranger to the department himself, having been with RPD for 23 years. He started in Robbinsville at 18, as a dispatcher. He dispatched for four years, until a police officer position opened up at RPD in 1996. Nitti started the job in 1997, after attending the Trenton Police Academy. From there, he has worked his way up the ranks, from four years on patrol, eight years as a detective, a stint as a DARE officer, five years as a sergeant on patrol and three years as a lieutenant.
Nitti and RPD’s other two lieutenants—Sandy Bainbridge and Mike Polaski—had been taking turns in the role of acting chief since Masseroni’s retirement in December 2015.
Born and raised in Hamilton Square, Nitti is a graduate of Notre Dame High School. His father and uncles owned Nitti Subaru on Route 33 in Hamilton Square. Much of his family is still in the area.
When he’s not at work, Nitti said he enjoys spending time with his wife of 16 years, Kelly, and his sons, 13-year-old Jordan and 11-year-old Braedan. Both boys are “big into baseball,” and Nitti coaches them at Nottingham Little League.
Hamilton Post senior community editor Rob Anthes sat down with Nitti in his office May 6 to discuss his career, his transition to his new job and his vision for the Robbinsville Police Department. An abridged transcript follows:
Hamilton Post: How did you start with the Robbinsville Police?
Chief Chris Nitti: [After high school], I started at Mercer [County Community College] for a year. At that time, a job for a dispatcher here became available. I had started working at Skyview Country Club, which became Miry Run Country Club. I was carrying golf bags and just doing other tasks at the golf course. My father was a golfer. He spent some time over there. Our old chief, who was a lieutenant at the time, Robert Woodruff was also a golfer. They were friendly over at the golf course, and he had told my father about the job opening as a dispatcher. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with my life at the time. I was at Mercer, studying criminal justice. But I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go. He said come into the office for an interview to see if I was interested in being a dispatcher. I came in and interviewed. They offered me the job. I accepted. It’s taken off since then.
HP: So you started your police career in Robbinsville 23 years ago, and have been here ever since?
CN: Yeah, it’s been a rewarding career thus far. I’ve had the opportunity to work in just about every aspect. I know what these guys are going through. I’ve walked in their shoes. I may not be an expert in the fields they’re in, because it’s been awhile, but I have a general understanding. I know there are good days, and I know there are bad days, and I understand that.
HP: The fact that you’ve been through it all in this department, does that help you as chief?
CN: It does. The shift work, it does take its toll. One of the things I want to do, to get out to these guys is, I want them to take a look at themselves, and make sure they’re focused on maintaining a healthy lifestyle because that is so important. Making sure they’re getting rest. Making sure they’re exercising. Making sure they’re eating properly. Those are things that will help them on these shifts and help them recover, or prolong their life. Police officers have 10 years less life expectancy than everybody else. You chalk that up to the stress of the job, the stress of working different shifts. If we can take a look at doing some things to get ourselves mentally healthy and physically healthy, it’s going to help everybody in the long run. It’s important.
HP: What are your other goals as chief? What other initiatives do you have?
CN: Chief Masseroni set us up in an excellent position. We have a great department. Our equipment is top-notch. I can’t complain about anything. He’s put me in an excellent position.
I think if you talk to any chief, the public’s perception of the police has changed for the worse. There is a negative perception out there, and we need to focus as a department on changing that. Lt. Bainbridge started some great programs, with the Coffee with a Cop and getting out in the community. I think we need to continue that, just to get the younger generations to understand that we are there to help them. We are the good guys. They shouldn’t be afraid to approach us, and I want our officers to be approachable. When they get out, go watch a soccer game in town. Go watch a Little League game for a couple innings. Get out there, and let the people feel comfortable going to you. I think slowly we can regain the respect the position should have. We are there to help, and that’s important for people to know.
A concern for me, we’re seeing unprovoked violent attacks on police officers. That goes back to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We need to focus on that part of the job, training specifically. Defensive tactics. Ways we can not only protect the citizens of our town and the people we serve, but protect ourselves and the people we work with.
There’s something else I’m excited about, an initiative we’re working with. We recognize the heroin epidemic. Robbinsville’s a small slice of a national problem, a statewide problem. What we’re looking to do is work with some prevention programs, prevention counselors, so that when we do come into contact with an arrestee that’s obviously suffering from an addiction issue, we will offer them an opportunity to call a counselor. The Mercer County Opiate Taskforce, we’d like to have the sponsors down here to give them an opportunity to speak to these people, and hopefully get them into some sort of treatment going forward. That’s with our Robbinsville Municipal Alliance. Everybody is on board.
HP: Heroin, as you said, has been causing problems across the country. Locally, those involved with addiction-related groups have looked to partner with law enforcement. Some departments haven’t jumped at the opportunity, but it sounds like you’re on board with that. Why?
CN: We’re proactive. We’re excited about it. One of our detectives, Scott Kivet, he’s spearheading this thing. He’s part of the Mercer County taskforce. We look forward to seeing what the next step is.
The Robbinsville Municipal Alliance is on board. That’s important to us. I think we could start making a difference, and just educate the public. Letting people know what’s going on out there, and let everyone know we are going to offer these people help. We’re not just looking at them as a number. We understand there’s an issue, and we want to be able to help.
HP: I’m guessing this all folds into a bigger theme that, since you started in Robbinsville, the job of a police officer here has changed.
CN: It’s funny you say that because the principles of the job remain the same. You respond to calls for service. You’re proactive in looking for violators of the law. The call volume is definitely different. The size of the town is obviously different. The equipment we use is different. And technological aspects of the job is different. But when you break it all down, the job is still the job. The principles of the job, in protecting and serving the community, are the same.
HP: So, the town has grown tremendously, but the job remains the same?
CN: There’s more reporting now than we had to do in the past. Documentation of everything. We have cameras in the cars now. We look forward to having body cameras. That part of the job has changed. They are things we haven’t had in the past. Computer-aided dispatch, we haven’t had that in the past. But you are out there. You are responding to the calls. You’re acting on what you see. Those basic principles have remained the same.
HP: You were acting chief at the time of the accident that killed schools superintendent Steve Mayer, and that day was your first ever press conference. Lives were lost, and an investigation is underway, so obviously there are more serious things, but did you feel like you had been thrown into the fire at all having that press conference as your first? Were you ready for it?
CN: I wouldn’t say I was ready for it. Maybe the way everything happened made it a little easier. There was no time to think. It was dynamic. It was presented to me, and it was there in front of me. I had great support. We were all together. Hopefully, I don’t have many more of those press conferences.
HP: When you’re not working, you’re mainly with your kids?
CN: Yup, my family, outside of work, comes first. I love spending time with them. I like exercising over here at Work Out World, so if I can sneak over there for an hour, I do that. That’s important, too. Other than that, my kids are my hobby right now. I occasionally play some golf.
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