Commissioner Robert J. Dowd is an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice at New Jersey City University where he teaches various courses on Criminal Justice. In addition, he works for Bernstein and Associates, Inc., which is regarded by many in the law enforcement field to be the nation’s leader in public safety exam preparation. As an instructor for Bernstein and Associates, Commissioner Dowd provides instruction to police officers and sheriff’s officers who are preparing for promotional exams in the New Jersey Civil Service System, as well as the City of Chicago Police Department.
Commissioner Dowd is a retired Chief of Police from the Township of North Bergen. During his tenure, he was charged with overseeing all aspects and day-to-day operations of a highly diverse 135-person department serving an equally diverse township of more than 60,000 people. He served as a North Bergen Police Officer from 1994 to 2020 and is certified by the New Jersey Police Training Commission as a police academy instructor. He is also a Certified Public Manager (CPM) earning his CPM designation from Rutgers University. He graduated from the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (FBI-LEEDS) and was designated as an Advanced Level Accredited Chief Executive by the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.
Commissioner Dowd holds a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from New Jersey City University (NJCU) where he graduated with a 4.0 grade point average. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from NJCU where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.
During the course of his career, Commissioner Dowd has received commendations for bravery and valor from the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Knights of Columbus, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, as well as numerous citations from the Policemen’s Benevolent Association. In July of 2016, Commissioner Dowd was invited to the White House by President Obama to participate in a briefing on the President’s 21st Century Task Force on Policing. Commissioner Dowd has studied abroad at the College of Policing in Manchester, England, at Scotland Yard in London, England, and the Tulliallan Castle, the police academy for Police Scotland.
Commissioner Dowd is a proud member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, the Hudson County Chiefs of Police Association (where he previously served as a president), FBI-LEEDA, the New Jersey State PBA, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Italian American Police Society of New Jersey, the Jersey City Police Emerald Society, and the Northern New Jersey Chapter of ASIS International.
Commissioner Dowd resides in North Bergen with his wife, Grace. He has one adult daughter, Ashley Teagan, who is a nationally certified school psychologist employed by the North Bergen school district.