file photo by Boyd Loving
Towns saddled with costs as lawsuits filed by police add up
Monday May 27, 2013, 9:18 PM
BY STEPHANIE AKIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
They are among the most generously compensated public employees in New Jersey, with rank-and-file members routinely earning more than $100,000 a year with a full pension after 25 years.
But local police officers seem to be the least satisfied, at least based on their propensity to sue their employers over promotions and other work conditions.
In the past 10 years, North Jersey has seen a rash of discrimination and whistle-blower lawsuits filed by police officers, many of them filed in batches in Paramus, Teaneck, Fair Lawn and other communities.
Those cases, fueled in part by legal rulings that have made it easier to file whistle-blower and harassment claims, have shattered the once-prevailing honor code that kept many officers from speaking publicly about problems in their departments. Instead, they depict a police culture where complaints about promotion, harassment by co-workers and political meddling are routine.
The suits have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of dollars, according to attorneys and other professionals who have worked on such cases.
When Christie was bashing greedy unions like the teachers, he omitted the uniform services. The start high and skyrocket to over 100k in about a third of the time teachers do.