'Never seen a mess like this': NJ police chiefs blast Spotswood administration
SPOTSWOOD – About 20 police chiefs and deputy chiefs came to Monday's Borough Council meeting to deliver a simple message – bring suspended borough Police Chief Philip Corbisiero back to work.
And South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka, past president and board member of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police (NJSACOP), said Acting Capt. Nicholas Mayo and Officer Richard Sasso Jr., who are also suspended with pay, should be brought back to work too.
"I’ve been a police officer for 36 years and 18 years as chief of police and I can tell you I have never seen a mess like this in my life," said Hayducka, who was also speaking on behalf of the Middlesex County Chiefs of Police Association.
In March Mayor Jackie Palmer suspended Corbisiero and Mayo, the two top-ranking officers in the Spotswood Police Department, and has threatened to fire them.
The suspensions are the latest development in the ongoing conflict between the mayor and some members of the police department, including Sasso, the president of the local Policemen’s Benevolent Association (PBA), that has resulted in an onslaught of lawsuits.
The 39 pages of charges against the chief allege a litany of infractions, from incompetence and insubordination to discrimination and sexual harassment.
More: Spotswood chief: Mayor thinks town 'is her own little empire where she can make the rules'
Both Corbisiero and Mayo have pleaded not guilty to the charges and have requested public hearings.
Corbisiero and Mayo have also gone to Superior Court to have the disciplinary charges dismissed and their suspensions lifted.
Hayducka said the suspensions are "political" because Corbisiero and Mayo refuse to be "puppets" and do the bidding of Palmer and Business Administrator Brandon Umba.
Both Palmer and Umba, who were both at the meeting, did not respond to Hayducka's comments.
Hayducka also urged council members to adopt a resolution supporting the return of Corbisiero, Mayo and Sasso along with the dismissal of these “bogus charges.”
"You have the authority to do so," he said.
He also urged council members to approve a resolution demanding that Palmer and Umba recuse themselves from any policy or decisions involving the police department until the matter is resolved.
Borough Council members also did not respond to Hayducka's comments.
"Everyone's losing in this situation – the taxpayers, the police officers everyone up here," he said.
Hayducka said he has looked at the charges against Corbisiero and Mayo and said, "they're not worth the paper they’re written on."
Hayducka singled out one charge against Corbisiero that is related to the PBA putting information on Facebook.
“That might be my favorite stupidest charge that’s out there,” he said. “It's ridiculous. It's embarrassing, and I cannot believe an attorney wrote that.”
There is no legal basis for these charges, Hayducka said, adding there are numerous procedural violations.
"You can't just wake up and say I want him out of here because I'm not getting what I want," he said.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has already exonerated Corbisiero on some of the charges, Hayducka said, but the other charges were never investigated.
Every police officer in New Jersey, including the chief of police, has certain rights, he said.
"We're entitled to due process," Hayducka said.
Email: sloyer@gannettnj.com
Susan Loyer covers Middlesex County and more for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ police chiefs blast Spotswood administration over cops' suspensions
