DEPTFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — The family of slain Police Officer Bobby Shisler is suing Deptford Township and the mayor for creating what they say were deliberately unsafe working conditions.
In a suit filed in Superior Court, the Shisler family said the Deptford Township Police Department was dangerously understaffed. Only four officers were assigned per shift in a town of about 30,000 residents, covering 18 square miles that includes major shopping areas.
The suit also alleges the officers on staff were under-trained in applying tourniquets, and that they worked without the proper tools and resources to do their jobs safely, including Tasers and appropriate body-worn cameras with GPS capabilities.
“Officer Shisler’s death was completely preventable,” Shisler family attorney Jacci Vigilante said.
Shisler was shot during a pedestrian stop in March 2023 and died from his injuries two months later. He stopped Mitchell Negron Jr. along Delsea Drive but Negron ran off. Shisler was shot in the leg and taken to the hospital, where he later died after 20 surgeries. Negron Jr. was shot multiple times and died at the scene.
Vigilante said Shisler’s death was the result of years of retaliation by the mayor, who she said was more interested in power and control than the safety of police.
“At the time Officer Shisler died, the force should have been over 100 members,” Vigilante said. “It was down to 50 — somewhat due to attrition, somewhat due to the mayor’s refusal to hire.”
The suit alleges Mayor Paul Medany became furious after an apparent plan to replace the police chief with a director of public safety, who would be under his control, failed in 2020. Vigilante said Medany refused to hire more cops after that.
“That was unfair to the public,” she added. “It was unfair to the police officers. It certainly contributed, in large part, to what happened.”
Deptford Township said the lawsuit “lacks factual basis and is replete with inaccuracies and innuendo.” In a statement, the township suggests this is a politically motivated suit, referencing Vigilante’s connections to the Gloucester County Republican Party, where she previously served as chair. Medany is a Democrat.
The statement continues, in part, “In her complaint, Ms. Vigilante references and criticizes many policy decisions that were made by Deptford’s Township Council over a period of five years. All of these decisions were made at public meetings subject to comment by members of the public. None of these decisions were ever appealed or overruled and to now try to blame Officer Shisler’s death on decisions made by Township Council is not only disingenuous but a blatant attempt to rewrite history for political gain.”
Vigilante said politics has nothing to do with it. “This is about the lost life of a 27-year-old police officer.”
The Shisler family is seeking unspecified damages.