In 1895, Allendale’s first elected mayor and council appointed James Linkroum as the borough marshal. He was paid $25 for the year and provided with a badge and handcuffs. In 1928, the council established the borough’s first police department with William J. Reimer as the chief of police. With accusations of bullying and cronyism, the council voted to disband the police department on March 14, 1939, and the marshal system returned.
On January 3, 1959, the mayor and council voted to reestablish the Allendale Police Department (APD), appointing Robert D. Wilson as chief of police and Frank A. Parenti Jr. as police sergeant. Upon Chief Wilson’s retirement, Frank Parenti was sworn in as police chief on June 1, 1967. Anne Kanze became APD’s first female officer on August 9, 1979, and in 1980, the K-9 unit was established with officer Andrew Baum working with his new partner Guardian, a German shepherd. Robert Herndon and George “Chip” Scherb followed Parenti as police chief on January 4, 1990, and May 12, 2011, respectively.
The police chief’s home typically served as police headquarters. Chief marshal Kenneth Booth’s home on West Maple Avenue was considered police headquarters during his tenure in the 1940s. The first Public Safety Office was established in 1951 across from the Allendale Hotel at 126 West Allendale Avenue. In 1961, the borough took possession of the American Legion’s War Memorial Building on Franklin Turnpike, providing space on the first floor for APD. In 1971, the APD rented a private home at 59 Cottage Place, remaining there until 1978, when the department moved back into 290 Franklin Turnpike after the borough administration moved to 500 West Crescent Avenue.
The building at 290 Franklin Turnpike was razed in 2005, and a new 9,000-square-foot police headquarters was dedicated on the same site on November 11, 2006.