Martin Delaney

Mr. Delaney began his law enforcement career in 1995. Prior to his retirement in August 2020 as Bergen County’s (New Jersey) Prosecutorial Chief of Investigations, he served as the Operations Commander for the 100-member Bergen County Regional SWAT Team.

He is a New Jersey Police Training Commission certified instructor and a licensed attorney. During his unique law enforcement career, Mr. Delaney served as an assistant prosecutor and a member of Bergen County’s tier one tactical team. He tried countless jury trials prosecuting crimes such as murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and sexual assaults. As a member of the County’s SWAT Team, he responded to active shooter calls, armed barricaded subjects, and to execute high-risk arrest and search warrants. These diverse roles gave him a distinct perspective on all facets of law enforcement, which was particularly valuable when he was tapped to create Bergen County’s Active Shooter Response Policy and its corresponding tactical course. As a result of his efforts on that project, all 3,500 police officers in Bergen County have been uniformly trained to respond to an active shooter event. This program has served as a model for other similar programs throughout New Jersey. In 2018, Mr. Delaney was personally appointed by New Jersey’s Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to sit on the state-wide Active Shooter Response Task Force.

In May 2018, Mr. Delaney was appointed Executive Director of the Bergen County Safe Schools Task Force, a public/private partnership, that uses a multi-disciplinary approach to address school safety. In that role, he provided training, guidance, and policy development recommendations to Bergen County’s seventy-six school districts. As Executive Director, he led a team of law enforcement, mental health, and education professionals to determine best practices for reducing school violence. Since its inception, the Safe Schools Task Force has trained thousands of educators and school professionals in a variety of school safety topics.

At the time of his retirement, Mr. Delaney was the lead instructor for the Bergen County Police Academy’s Active Shooter Response Tactics, Police Use of Force, and Patrol Officer De-Escalation courses. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Mr. Delaney also serves as a Blue and Gold Officer (BGO) for the United States Naval Academy, guiding applicants through the admissions process; is an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Montclair State University; and is a certified rescue diver with a local, municipal emergency services unit’s SCUBA rescue team.