N.J. police chief accused of turning department into 'Animal House'
Corky Siemaszko
Wed, March 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM CDT
A New Jersey police chief has been accused by five of his officers of turning the department into an "Animal House" rife with harassment against his employees, including incidents of him defecating on the office floor, spiking the office coffee pot with Adderall and Viagra, and jabbing one officer in the penis with a hypodermic needle.
Chief Robert Farley, a veteran of the North Bergen Police Department, is also accused of harassing officers outside of the office by sending packages containing sex toys and Gay pride flags to their homes, as well as retaliating against them by denying promotions and assigning officers to the night shift, according to notices to sue that have the officers submitted to the Township of North Bergen. To file a lawsuit in New Jersey, a person must first submit a notice indicating their intent to sue.
North Bergen Police Chief Robert Farley.
“Farley has fostered a workplace environment characterized by inappropriate behavior and so-called ‘practical jokes’ that are demeaning, demoralizing, and targeted,” one of the accusing officers, Lt. Alex Guzman, wrote. “These actions not only fail to meet the standards of professional conduct but also appear intended to humiliate me and other victims.”
The other officers who have filed notices to sue are Michael F. Derin, a retired North Bergen PD detective who worked for Farley in an administrative role; his son, Detective Michael A. Derin; and Officers Rasheed Siyam and Christopher Bowen.
“They’re not talking now because they fear retaliation,” their attorney, Patrick Toscano, told NBC News.
Toscano also asked the New Jersey state Attorney General’s Office in a letter Tuesday to “immediately take over the day-to-day operations of the North Bergen Police Department.” The AG's office declined to comment.
“I have represented thousands of police officers over the years,” Toscano said. “I have never seen anything like this. There’s just no other way of saying it.”
Farley, whose father and grandfather served as deputy chiefs of the North Bergen Police Department, was sworn in as chief by Mayor Nicholas Sacco in February 2024. Farley did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment.
North Bergen Police Chief Robert Farley appears to shave his arm on a police officer's desk.
The notices to sue name Farley, the township and the police department as defendants.
“The Township of North Bergen has full confidence in Chief Robert Farley’s leadership of the North Bergen Police Department and we strongly deny these false and outrageous allegations made by disgruntled officers who are resorting to attacking the reputation of a dedicated public servant to further their own selfish goals,” a town spokesperson said in a statement.
“In order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest and because we are fully confident that these claims will be proven false, we have proactively referred them to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for review.”
NBC News has reached out to the prosecutor’s office for confirmation. When asked for comment, Sacco’s assistant asked that the request go through the town’s spokesperson.
Farley, who earns more than $228,000 a year, heads a police force that has 140 uniformed officers who patrol a 5.57 square mile township of some 60,000 residents that sits directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan and recorded two homicides last year, the most since 2016, according to the police department’s records.
The allegations against Farley were first reported by NJ Advance Media.
Michael F. Derin said in his notice that he and Farley had been friends until Farley became chief and that from then on he began playing pranks on the officers, like setting off car alarms and putting ink on door handles.
Soon, Derin wrote, the pranks took a darker turn, like in August 2024 when he found himself being chased “around the office” by Farley.
“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,” he wrote.
Derin wrote that when he protested, Farley “told me I don’t know how to take a joke.”
“From this point on, the chief creates a hostile work environment,” Derin wrote. “The chief would shave his body hair on peoples’ property, their persons, and their food. He was also fond of scraping fluids from his underwear onto people seated in the chief’s office.”
Broken glass after Farley allegedly threw a plaque in a rage.
Derin’s son wrote that he witnessed Farley lace the communal coffee pot with prescription drugs and then wait for somebody to pour themselves a cup of the doctored coffee. He said he started getting his own coffee from a machine “because I did not feel it was safe to drink from the pot anymore.” He also said that he was forced to do schoolwork for Farley’s daughter, including writing a research paper on her behalf that took several days during work to complete.
Guzman wrote that Farley, “on several occasions, pulled his pants down and defecated on the floor in front of his office staff.”
“He also left feces on the bathroom floor, apparently with the intent of having someone unknowingly step on it,” Guzman wrote.
Siyam and Bowen wrote they were denied promotions or forced to work night shifts. Bowen also noted that officers, both under Farley and his predecessors, were pressured to write parking tickets “as a way to generate revenue for the township.”
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