TEANECK, N.J. — Seth Kriegel was sworn in as Teaneck’s new police chief Tuesday night with more than half of the Township Council absent from the ceremony.

Three of the seven council members attended: Danielle Gee, Denise Belcher and Karen Orgen. Four were absent: Mayor Mark Schwartz, Deputy Mayor Elie Y. Katz, Councilwoman Hillary Goldberg and Councilman Michael Pagan.

Schwartz had posted on Facebook that he was out of town for the holiday.

On social media, Bergen Shomrim and Chaverim of Bergen County each offered perfunctory congratulations. The Bergen County Police Chiefs Association likewise posted a formal congratulations: “Congratulations to Seth Kriegel of Teaneck Police on the occasion of being sworn in as Chief of Police of the Teaneck Police Department.”

The statements came despite the earlier dispute between Shomrim and Kriegel over the latter's desire to control the handling of antisemitism complaints and block those complaints from being brought directly to the county sheriff, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the New Jersey Office of Attorney General.

Kriegel, a third-generation Teaneck resident, has more than 20 years of law enforcement experience. He previously served as deputy chief, captain of Investigations and commander of the Juvenile Bureau.

Some township officials have described Kriegel as a natural successor to former Teaneck Police Chief Andrew McGurr, saying he worked alongside the chief and was extensively prepared for the position over the last two years.

Earlier this year, while McGurr was out on medical leave, Kriegel met with members of Bergen County Shomrim about working with police on antisemitism complaints.

Shomrim proposed a cooperative arrangement under which it would immediately report complaints to the Teaneck Police Department while also conducting complementary fact-finding, including canvassing for surveillance footage and turning any findings over to police.

According to people familiar with the discussions, Kriegel instead sought sole personal discretion over whether complaints would be investigated and actively opposed Shomrim going over his head to county or state authorities if he decided he did not want to investigate a complaint.

Shomrim ultimately maintained that it would report complaints to TPD, conduct its own fact-finding and provide its findings to police while retaining the ability to escalate matters to the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office or New Jersey Attorney General’s Office when necessary.