Ventnor police chief retires; his replacement to be sworn in May 8

VENTNOR – Chief Joe Fussner is retiring after a 28-year career in the Ventnor City Police Department, the last four years as chief. He replaced former Chief Douglas Biagi upon his retirement on Dec. 31, 2022.

Fussner started as a Class 1 officer in 1997 and graduated from the Vineland Police Academy in 2000. His first job in the Police Department as a dispatcher was short-lived when he decided to become a full-time police officer. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2012, lieutenant in 2014, and captain in 2019. One of his duties was to keep the public advised by serving as the department’s public information officer.

During his career, he excelled in traffic safety and crash investigations and has more than 100 driving while intoxicated arrests under his belt. He said his drunk driving enforcement was propelled by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving campaign, mostly because his parents were friends with the parents of U.S. Navy Ensign John R. Elliot, who was killed by a drunk driver.

“I saw how that incident devastated that family, and I thought I could make a difference,” Fussner said when he was promoted to chief.

Mayor Tim Kriebel said that skill set was an asset to other Atlantic County law enforcement agencies.

He was a self-proclaimed “street cop,” who did the job the right way.

“He’s been a really valued professional partner through COVID, and a number of emergencies, such as a Sacco Subs fire that shut down a whole section of the city,” said Kriebel, who also serves as Commissioner of Public Safety. “He was always watching social media to follow up before things got out of hand.”

Kriebel said he held his officers to the highest standards.

“He will be missed by his staff - not always with a soft and fuzzy approach in management, but you could count on him,” Kriebel said about staff in a department that handles about 18,000 incidents a year.

“We’re not just a seasonal town, to the Police Department we are a year-round town,” he said.

“Joe is so knowledgeable in his job,” Commissioner Maria Mento said. “He knew right from wrong and to him, it was either right or wrong. And he held us accountable as well. He knew his stuff.”

    Ventnor City Police Capt. Joseph Wootton
  

Capt. Joseph Wootton will be his replacement and will be sworn in as chief at the May 8 Board of Commissioners meeting.

Wootton began his law enforcement career in 1996 as a Class I Officer with the Ventnor City Police Department.  After serving as a corrections officer at the Atlantic County Justice Facility starting in 2000, he returned to Ventnor as a full-time police officer in 2003.  

His leadership path began with a promotion to patrol sergeant in 2012, followed by graduating the West Point Command and Leadership Program in 2014. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2015 and took on the role of administrative lieutenant in 2020, overseeing training, Internal Affairs, and the department’s reaccreditation with the NJ Association of Chiefs of Police Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. 

He was promoted to captain in January 2022, bringing more than two decades of dedication, experience and professionalism to the department.

Copyright Access Network 2025