City Officials Pledge Continued Commitment to Systemic Reform at Hackensack Police Department After Major Legal Victory
The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court issued a decision Thursday that the City of Hackensack was justified in seeking the termination of two police officers who were involved in a warrantless search of an apartment on Prospect Avenue in 2016, overturning prior rulings that that forced the city to reinstate the tainted officers.
In response to the Appellate Division’s decision, the City, under the leadership of Police Director Raymond Guidetti, acted to immediately terminate the employment of Detective Rocco Duardo and Officer Victor Vasquez. This major legal victory validates not only the city’s steadfast determination to uphold the public trust by removing these officers from duty, but also the Mayor and City Council’s ongoing efforts to reform the Hackensack Police Department.
“This court ruling confirms that the City’s leadership made the right decision in 2017 in taking decisive action to remove these officers when it became clear that they could no longer effectively serve our city due to their misconduct,” said Hackensack Mayor John Labrosse. “Reforming the Hackensack Police Department is critically important to the future of our community, and we will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure that the department can move forward with accountability, transparency and professionalism, no matter what obstacles are in the way.”
In December 2016, a warrantless search conducted by several Hackensack police officers at a Prospect Avenue apartment led to serious allegations of misconduct, including illegal entry, mishandling evidence, and falsifying reports. The City became aware of the situation in 2017 and referred the matter to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, which sharply rebuked the officers’ actions and declared them to be “Brady Officers” whose misconduct would have to be disclosed if they were called as witnesses in future court proceedings, thus compromising their credibility and ability to perform their basic duties as police officers. As the Appellate Division noted in its opinion, the BCPO’s determination resulted in the dismissal of numerous criminal cases.
In 2017, the City acted decisively to terminate the involved officers on two separate grounds – first, based upon the misconduct itself, and second, because the officers’ status as “Brady Officers” made them unable to effectively perform their duties due to their lack of credibility. The matters were heard by the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, which found for the City on the merits of the misconduct charges, but rejected the City’s “Brady Officer” charges. The Civil Service Commission further reduced the penalty imposed on Officers Vasquez and Duardo from termination to six-month unpaid suspensions, meaning that they were allowed to resume their careers as sworn law enforcement officers over the City’s objections.
The City’s legal team, led by Labor Counsel Ray Wiss, Esq., filed an appeal to the Appellate Division in an effort to reverse the “Brady Officer” decision, ultimately leading to today’s ruling that specifically cited the two officers’ inability to testify credibly in court in future legal proceedings. The two affected officers may seek to further appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court, and if so the City will continue to maintain its position that removal was the only appropriate consequence given the facts of this case.
“We are committed to moving forward with a police department that our residents can trust and depend on,” added Police Director Raymond Guidetti. “While our efforts to reform and improve the Department are ongoing, we have already made tremendous strides and will continue to seek safety, integrity, and transparency in all our actions.”
The City of Hackensack began a wholesale reform effort at the HPD following a scathing 2022 audit that revealed prevailing, problematic deficiencies at the Police Department including a lack of capable leadership, a precipitous drop in arrests despite a stable number of calls for service, and a dramatic increase in overtime. The audit revealed many of the City’s highest-ranking and highest-paid officers added tens of thousands of additional dollars to their respective salaries by working what are known as “extra-duty details,” such as providing traffic control at construction sites. In order to earn this extra compensation, the audit revealed troubling schemes such as manipulating schedules while on duty and various other inappropriate practices. Using these methods, officers would frequently receive between $30,000 to over $50,000 in extra duty pay in a single year, resulting in total pay that could exceed $260,000.
Soon after the audit was issued and Director Guidetti was retained by the City, he instituted reforms to better regulate extra-duty assignments and prohibited a small number of the Police Department’s highest-ranking personnel from working them altogether. In response to Director Guidetti’s efforts to reform a broken system, the City’s police unions responded with a “no confidence” vote in an attempt to undermine his leadership and several filed copycat lawsuits in an obvious pressure tactic.
In addition to reforming extra-duty detail procedures, Director Guidetti has instituted a number of reforms to correct other problems identified in the audit, including reinstituting regular command meetings and accountability practices, mandating the use of attendance sheets, and instituting a fair and transparent system for personnel assignments.
The City also adopted a resolution asking the New Jersey Attorney General to formally determine whether it is legal for police officers to be paid twice for the same hours worked, and to confirm that the City has the right to enforce applicable ordinances, policies, and contracts needed to address scheduling abuses at the Hackensack Police Department.
In March of this year, the Hackensack Police Department once again successfully received re-accreditation by the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police (NJSACOP), an impressive feat that all police departments in the state aspire to achieve. This was accomplished despite a small group of disgruntled officers attempting to sabotage the process as payback for their exposure in the aforementioned audits.
