Bergen Prosecutor Takes Control Of Troubled Englewood PD's Internal Affairs Unit

A six-month investigation into the department’s internal affairs operation made the move necessary, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella and Englewood City Manager Sonia Alves-Viveiros said in a joint statement Wednesday.

Both signed a memorandum of agreement placing a full-time monitor from Musella’s office in the unit.

Through the monitor, Musella “will temporarily direct and control all aspects of the Englewood Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit” for at least 180 days, both said in a joint statement Wednesday.

The move comes amid major upheaval in the department between community members and officers who support Suffern and those who say he's unfit to lead.

Englewood's PBA sued Suffern last month, claiming that he violated the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the city when he “unilaterally eliminated extra duty utility and vendor work” for certain officers without justification."

Extra-work assignments include security for schools, churches and synagogues, as well as handling traffic and other duties for utility companies and other contractors to protect public safety.

By eliminating the extra-duty work, Suffern “impose[d] a significant disability on the officers’ ability to secure future off-duty employment,” the PBA suit says.

The chief also established new uniform and facial hair requirements, it says.

The union says the moves were “part of a campaign of retaliatory efforts against PBA unit members” who approved  no-confidence votes last year against Suffern's and former Deputy Chief Gregory Halstead's “integrity and competence to lead.”

Eight officers opposed the move, publicly expressing support for the chief and deputy chief. The PBA suspended the eight, who then resigned from the union and established their own Fraternal Order of Police chapter.

Soon after came a protest march that drew headlines when it sparked a brief skirmish.

March organizers blamed over overzealous officers intent on denying their rights. The PBA, in turn, said they provoked their arrests by interfering in an incident along the route.

The union also blasted Mayor Michael Wildes’s support of the demonstrators, saying that the mayor has “consistently chosen to play both sides against the middle” and changes his support “whether or not he can gain from it politically.”

Wildes, a former federal prosecutor and onetime NYPD auxiliary officer, said he believed Englewood police shouldn’t be investigating their own and that it would be “wise under the circumstances” to have another law enforcement agency conduct the review.

SEE: Englewood PBA: Marchers Arrested After Interfering, Mayor Blasted, Independent Review Welcomed

Halstead retired quietly at the beginning of this month, leaving questions about how and when his position would be filled and how other department operations would proceed.

Divisiveness continues between community organizers and certain police officers, as well as between the chief and PBA members and other officers.

The Memorandum of Agreement temporarily suspends Suffern’s authority, giving Musella’s office “temporary direction and control of the internal affairs functions of the Englewood Police Department; and to review as necessary all other policies, procedures and functions of the Englewood Police Department to remedy any policy and performance deficiencies within the Englewood Police Department and to retrain its personnel as required.”

“The Monitor and supporting personnel shall have full authority to audit all past and present functions of the Englewood Police Department's internal affairs functions and to temporarily direct and control the internal affairs functions of the Englewood Police Department without limitation, including the direction of all Englewood Police Department personnel in the performance of their internal affairs duties, the investigation of all internal affairs matters, and the resolution of all internal affairs investigations, including the charging of all Englewood Police Department personnel,” the agreement says.

The monitor will have “broad authority to review all other policies, procedures and functions of the Englewood Police Department to ensure that those policies, procedures and functions are in compliance with Attorney General and BCPO directives and guidelines and proper law enforcement policy, procedure and practice,” it adds.

The monitor, it says, will have “complete and immediate access to any Englewood Police Department books, records, documents or personnel which the Monitor deems necessary to perform his/her duties.”

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