Allegations Against NJ Police Chief Are Gross

A New Jersey police chief is under fire after allegations that he created a so-called Animal House-like atmosphere in his department. Five officers who have worked under Chief Robert Farley at the North Bergen Police Department filed notices to sue Farley for assault and harassment, alleging he engaged in "pranks" at the department including defecating on the floor and in wastebaskets, exposing himself, shaving his body hair over people's property and food, using racial slurs, jabbing an officer in the penis with a hypodermic needle, forcing officers to do schoolwork for his child, spiking the office coffee with drugs including Viagra, and "scraping fluids from his underwear onto people seated in the chief's office," according to one officer's notice to sue.

The allegations also include "practical jokes" including putting ink or raw eggs on doorknobs, clogging toilets with paper, microwaving hot sauce in a situation that created noxious fumes, putting firecrackers under workers' chairs, and setting off car alarms, NJ.com reports. Farley is also accused of lashing out in anger at times, including allegedly pulling a TV monitor from the wall and smashing it, smashing a plaque on someone's desk, and pulling a doorbell from a wall. The aforementioned officer says that when he complained after the hypodermic needle incident, Farley "told me I don't know how to take a joke."

The officers say Farley retaliated against officers who complained by assigning them to unfavorable shifts, denying them promotions, and sending sex toys to their houses, NBC News reports. The township denies the allegations and says it has confidence in Farley, who has been in the role since February 2024, but that it has "proactively referred [the allegations] to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office for review" in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Some of the officers involved say the situation has been referred to the attorney general's office and that a state investigation is underway. (More New Jersey stories.)