3 days ago
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A New Jersey police chief has come under fire after colleagues accused him of defecating on the station floor, attempting to drug co-workers by putting Viagra and Adderall in their coffee, and sticking a hypodermic needle into an officer’s penis, according to a report.
NJ.com reported that Robert Farley, chief of North Bergen police, repeatedly harassed his co-workers with a series of so-called pranks, while he is also accused of retaliating after a colleague, who is a person of color, complained of racial harassment.
Five former and current North Bergen officers plan to sue the township over Farley’s behavior, which allegedly also included the police chief shaving his body hair on to people’s food and “scraping fluids from his underwear on to people seated in the chief’s office”.
In an email to NJ.com, a North Bergen spokesperson called the claims “false and outrageous”.
“The Township of North Bergen has full confidence in Chief Robert Farley’s leadership,” the spokesperson said.
But Farley’s accusers allege that the police chief, who took on the role in February 2024, instigated a reign of terror which one officer said included retaliation after they cooperated with an internal affairs investigation over a hostile work environment and civil rights violations.
In his notice to sue, Lt Alex Guzman wrote: “Chief Farley has, on several occasions, pulled his pants down and defecated on the floor in front of his entire office staff.”
Guzman added: “He has also left feces on the bathroom floor, apparently with the intent of having someone unknowingly step on it.”
Michael F Derin worked as a special captain with administrative duties at the department. He wrote in his notice to sue that he and Farley had been friends before the chief’s behavior towards him changed in August 2024.
“Chief Farley chases me around his office,” Derrin wrote. “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.”
Derin said the needle drew blood from his penis, and said: “From this point on, the chief creates a hostile work environment.”
He wrote, “The chief would shave his body hair on people’s property, their persons, and their food,” adding: “He was also fond of scraping fluids from his underwear on to people seated in the chief’s office.”
Derin’s son, detective Michael A Derin, said he had witnessed Farley putting Viagra and Adderall into a coffee pot. Farley stirred the pills until they dissolved, Derin said, and then waited for someone to drink the coffee.
Officer Rashid Siyam said Farley and others retaliated against him after he participated in an internal investigation into civil rights violations. Siyam said some department members had referred to him as a “camel jockey” and “terrorist”.
NJ.com published photos that seemed to support the officers’ claims. In one a man who the news outlet identified as Farley is shirtless and appears to be shaving his arm over a colleague’s desk. Another photo shows a toilet cubicle which appears to have been befouled.
In a statement on the North Bergen police website, posted after he became chief in February 2024, Farley, who reportedly earns more than $228,000 a year, said he was “proud” to lead the community.
“Like my predecessors, I will strive to lead the officers of our department to be an accessible component of our community while maintaining their competency, transparency, and professionalism,” Farley said at the time.
