New Jersey town police chief accused of defecating in front of staff, sending sex toys to officers
A New Jersey town is pushing back on disturbing claims that its police chief harassed officers who reported to him.
Attorney Patrick Toscano is representing five police officers who recently submitted notices of their intent to sue North Bergen Police Chief Robert Farley and the township.
North Bergen police officers want new chief, financial settlement
Officers in North Bergen accuse the chief of spiking the office coffee pot with Viagra and Adderall while creating a humiliating work environment.
Toscano says a photo shows Farley shaving his arm onto an officer's desk, and another photo shows broken glass that Toscano's clients say is from Farley throwing a plaque in a fit of rage.
"Then remarks were made to them along the lines of, you can't take a joke. If you can't take it, get out, retire, get lost," Toscano said.
The plaintiffs also claim Farley defecated on the floor in front of staff and sent sex toys to officers' homes.
Toscano says his clients want a new chief of police, and they want a financial settlement. He's also asking the AG to take over the police department's day-to-day operations.
Retired NYPD lieutenant and John Jay adjunct assistant professor Christopher Mercado says if the allegations are true, then morale is likely low at the department.
"Officers are not gonna engage. They're gonna go in, they're gonna do their shift and they're gonna leave. Worst case scenario, they're just gonna get up and quit," he said.
Township suggests allegations are retaliation for scaling back overtime
Mayor Nicholas Sacco would not agree to an interview with CBS News New York and neither would Farley, who became chief about a year ago.
The township released the following statement Thursday:
"As per state law, North Bergen referred these allegations to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office for review as soon as we became aware of them, and we understand that they were subsequently sent to the New Jersey State Attorney General's Office. The township will respect the outcome of that investigation, and at this point none of these allegations have been proven to be true.
"When Chief Farley took office last year he undertook an initiative to reduce the amount of police overtime expenditures and create a more fair and equitable process for how extra duty detail assignments are distributed amongst officers. Those reforms have led to a reduction in overtime spending of approximately $1 million per year. They have also significantly reduced the amount of extra compensation made by several officers, including Lt. Guzman who made over $150,000 in overtime and extra duty work in 2023, and SLEO Derin whose additional compensation has been cut in half due to Chief Farley's reforms. It's highly suspicious that these allegations have only come to light after Chief Farley instituted these reforms, which were designed to protect North Bergen taxpayers and ensure that all officers have access to extra duty assignments.
"It will be up to the State Attorney General's Office to determine if any of these allegations are truthful, and we would urge all parties not to rush to judgement or engage in sensationalistic news coverage without definitive evidence."
CBS News New York reached out to the attorney general's office to see if they had any comment. The AG's office says it doesn't confirm or deny the existence of investigations.
