Rowan University Police is the Newest GCPO Detective

A Rowan University Police Officer from National Park has been sworn in as a detective with the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.

Michael Bates, an officer with the Rowan University Police Department for the past seven years, was sworn in on Monday, the Prosecutor’s Office said.

“He’s done an outstanding job through the selection process and really that’s a testament to how he was raised and the values you instilled in him,” Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean F. Dalton told Bates’ family as he took the oath of office.

He was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps for five years, a member of the county Special Weapons and Tactics unit and an honored graduate of the Gloucester County Police Academy (academic, criminal justice, director’s and firearms award recipient in his class).

Bates will be assigned to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit.

Bates joins an investigative staff “which is renowned throughout the state as being highly professional, extremely motivated and goal-oriented,” Dalton said.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about us. It’s not about me. It’s about the people we serve- the residents here in Gloucester County,” Dalton said.

From the praise of his previous supervisors, his service to his country and to Rowan, “there’s no doubt you’re going to be a good fit here,” Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of Investigators John Porter said.