Margate commissioner alleges threats by Longport patrolman

By SUZANNE MARINO
Staff Writer
MARGATE -- Margate Commissioner John Swift has filed a statement with local police alleging that he was threatened at his home Saturday morning when he reportedly received a phone call from Longport Police Officer Frank Culmone.
“There was an article in the paper about discussions of possible consolidation of Margate and Longport services on Friday. On Saturday, at 7:24 a.m., I received a phone call. It was Frank Culmone, and he said, ‘Thanks for shoving this up our (expletive deleted). I’ll take care of you and find your replacement.’ I asked him for an explanation, and the phone went dead,” said Swift.
The Margate Commissioner said that there are often threats made when one is in public office.
“But when you get a threat from a uniformed police officer, someone who is sworn to uphold the law and they are acting like a vigilante, he was not handling himself in a professional manner,” said Swift.
“I am not sure if the threat was political or physical on the officer’s part,” said Swift, “but I have a lot of family in town, I have four kids, and I have to take any threat serious. I definitely felt uncomfortable by the threat.”
“These talks of consolidation bring what Longport wants, more manpower on the streets, safety for the residents, and economy for taxpayers,” said Swift, “so this reaction (to the newspaper article) is so surprising.”
The commissioner said he contacted Margate Police Chief Dave Wolfson and that the two sat down on Monday and the chief took Swift’s statement.
The statement was taken to the Longport Police Department Tuesday.
Swift said he is waiting to see how the matter is investigated and handled with the Longport Police Department before taking any further action.
“I want to see how Longport will handle this guy. If they do not take the necessary steps, we may need to make sure he is fit for duty,” said Swift. “Certainly, threatening an elected official over consolidation talks is behavior not becoming an officer.”
Longport Police Chief A. Scott Porter did not have a comment on the statement made to the Margate police by Commissioner Swift.
He did not have time to review the incident prior to The Current deadline. Officer Culmone was not on duty and did not answer calls to his home. A phone call to PBA president Ptl. Chris Ricciotti was not returned in time for this issue.
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