N.J. police chief accused of turning department into 'Animal House'

ph1l · Mar 27, 2025

Is this what "To Protect and Serve" means?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...ed-turning-department-animal-house-rcna198241

March 26, 2025, 4:24 PM CDT / Updated March 27, 2025, 2:41 PM CDT
By Corky Siemaszko

A New Jersey police chief has been accused by five of his officers of turning the department into an "Animal House" rife with harassment against his employees, including incidents of him defecating on the office floor, spiking the office coffee pot with Adderall and Viagra, and jabbing one officer in the penis with a hypodermic needle.
Chief Robert Farley, a veteran of the North Bergen Police Department, is also accused of harassing officers outside of the office by sending packages containing sex toys and Gay pride flags to their homes, as well as retaliating against them by denying promotions and assigning officers to the night shift, according to notices to sue that have the officers submitted to the Township of North Bergen. To file a lawsuit in New Jersey, a person must first submit a notice indicating their intent to sue.

North Bergen Police Chief Robert Farley.North Bergen Police Dept.
“Farley has fostered a workplace environment characterized by inappropriate behavior and so-called ‘practical jokes’ that are demeaning, demoralizing, and targeted,” one of the accusing officers, Lt. Alex Guzman, wrote. “These actions not only fail to meet the standards of professional conduct but also appear intended to humiliate me and other victims.”

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The other officers who have filed notices to sue are Michael F. Derin, a retired North Bergen PD detective who worked for Farley in an administrative role; his son, Detective Michael A. Derin; and Officers Rasheed Siyam and Christopher Bowen.

“They’re not talking now because they fear retaliation,” their attorney, Patrick Toscano, told NBC News.

Toscano also asked the New Jersey state Attorney General’s Office in a letter Tuesday to “immediately take over the day-to-day operations of the North Bergen Police Department.” The AG's office declined to comment.

“I have represented thousands of police officers over the years,” Toscano said. “I have never seen anything like this. There’s just no other way of saying it.”

Farley, whose father and grandfather served as deputy chiefs of the North Bergen Police Department, was sworn in as chief by Mayor Nicholas Sacco in February 2024. Farley did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment.

North Bergen Police Chief Robert Farley appears to shave his arm on a police officer's desk.Courtesy The Toscano Law Firm
The notices to sue name Farley, the township and the police department as defendants.

“The Township of North Bergen has full confidence in Chief Robert Farley’s leadership of the North Bergen Police Department and we strongly deny these false and outrageous allegations made by disgruntled officers who are resorting to attacking the reputation of a dedicated public servant to further their own selfish goals,” a town spokesperson said in a statement.

“In order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest and because we are fully confident that these claims will be proven false, we have proactively referred them to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for review.”

In a subsequent statement released Thursday, the spokesperson suggested Farley was being targeted by the officers because he's been cutting overtime pay.

"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," the statement said.

But in 2019 Farley himself was dubbed one of the "$300K cops" in Hudson County by The Jersey Journal, which found that he was one of four police officers in the county who boosted their salaries to over $300,000 because of "overtime, off-duty work and other payments."

NBC News has reached out to the prosecutor’s office for confirmation that it was investigating the allegations against Farley. When asked for comment, Sacco’s assistant asked that the request go through the town’s spokesperson.

Farley, who earns more than $228,000 a year, heads a police force that has 140 uniformed officers who patrol a 5.57 square mile township of some 60,000 residents that sits directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan and recorded two homicides last year, the most since 2016, according to the police department’s records.

The allegations against Farley were first reported by NJ Advance Media.

Michael F. Derin said in his notice that he and Farley had been friends until Farley became chief and that from then on he began playing pranks on the officers, like setting off car alarms and putting ink on door handles.

Soon, Derin wrote, the pranks took a darker turn, like in August 2024 when he found himself being chased “around the office” by Farley.

“After cornering me in the filing area with no further room for retreat, he sticks a hypodermic needle through my jeans into the tip of my penis,” he wrote.

Derin wrote that when he protested, Farley “told me I don’t know how to take a joke.”

“From this point on, the chief creates a hostile work environment,” Derin wrote. “The chief would shave his body hair on peoples’ property, their persons, and their food. He was also fond of scraping fluids from his underwear onto people seated in the chief’s office.”

Broken glass after Farley allegedly threw a plaque in a rage.Courtesy The Toscano Law Firm
Derin’s son wrote that he witnessed Farley lace the communal coffee pot with prescription drugs and then wait for somebody to pour themselves a cup of the doctored coffee. He said he started getting his own coffee from a machine “because I did not feel it was safe to drink from the pot anymore.” He also said that he was forced to do schoolwork for Farley’s daughter, including writing a research paper on her behalf that took several days during work to complete.

Guzman wrote that Farley, “on several occasions, pulled his pants down and defecated on the floor in front of his office staff.”

“He also left feces on the bathroom floor, apparently with the intent of having someone unknowingly step on it,” Guzman wrote.

Siyam and Bowen wrote they were denied promotions or forced to work night shifts. Bowen also noted that officers, both under Farley and his predecessors, were pressured to write parking tickets “as a way to generate revenue for the township.”
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mervyn · Mar 28, 2025

not as bad as a mississippi sheriff using inmates to attend her mom’s chicken farm for free.

ph1l · Mar 28, 2025

I think I found a suitable candidate for the next chief of the North Bergen, NJ Police Department (after he gets out of jail, of course).
https://www.wisn.com/article/wisconsin-state-fair-super-glue-coca-cola/64298942

Man accused of putting 'superglue' in co-worker's soda
State Fair Park police found gloves and a bottle of superglue in the trash near Joseph Ross' desk

Updated: 8:35 PM CDT Mar 26, 2025

Hannah Hilyard

WEST ALLIS, Wis. —
A vendor working at the Wisconsin State Fair grounds is accused of putting superglue in his co-worker's soda.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney's office has filed one felony count of placing foreign objects in edibles against Joseph Ross.

According to a criminal complaint, State Fair Park Police received a report on March 20 from a woman who said in the past couple of weeks, the drinks on her desk had a "strong chemical smell and taste," and after she drank the beverages, she would get sick.

She told State Fair police she set up a surveillance camera to monitor her drink on her desk, and the camera caught her co-worker, Joseph Ross, putting something into her drink.

Police interviewed Ross, who admitted to placing a "supplement" into his co-worker's Coca-Cola.

"The way I'm reading that is that it was an attempt to deceive the investigators while making an admission," WISN 12 News legal expert Craig Mastantuono said regarding the mention of a supplement.

Police obtained a search warrant for Ross' desk. According to the complaint, they found "clear protective gloves" and a superglue container and cap in the trash near Ross' office.

The complaint contained still photos of the surveillance video appearing to show Ross putting something in the Coca-Cola can. The complaint also had photos of the gloves as well as the Gorilla Brand Super Glue. Detectives noted the glue had a warning to "keep out of the reach of children" due to the harm of ingestion.
"I'm in the nothing-is-ever-unusual business, but you don't see this a lot," Mastantuono said. "This is a statute that is not typically charged because there's not a lot of instances where police or the authorities catch somebody putting something in someone's drink."

Investigators said they sent the soft drink to the Wisconsin Crime Lab for testing. The criminal complaint did not mention a motive.

Ross will be back in Milwaukee County Court on April 3 for a preliminary hearing.

Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office
Super glue recovered

Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office
Gloves recovered

Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office
Surveillance image substance in soda
A spokesperson for Wisconsin State Fair park released the following statement in response to the incident.

The two individuals involved were employed by a vendor and were not State Fair Park employees, therefore, we cannot comment on employment status. However, since this incident occurred while at State Fair Park, our police department responded, conducted a thorough investigation, and submitted the report to the District Attorney. Additionally, our police department has issued a 'No Trespass Order' to the individual being charged.

While this incident did not happen between State Fair Park employees and did not involve any patrons, we want to reiterate that safety is top priority at State Fair Park, and we take these matters very seriously.
More...

Option_Attack · Mar 30, 2025

This could work in Trump's Amerika!

gwb-trading · Apr 6, 2025

So pretty much like every local police department.

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N.J. police chief accused of turning department into 'Animal House'

ph1l

mervyn

ph1l

Option_Attack

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