West Orange Reviews Nearly $800K Retirement Payment for Longtime Police Chief as Oversight Questions Surface
Township and state officials are questioning New Jersey’s public employee leave policies and financial control over veteran West Orange Police Chief James Abbott’s nearly $800,000 retirement payout. Abbott, who joined the West Orange Police Department at 19 in July 1980, resigned on December 1, 2025, after 45 years. In 1997, he became police chief…

