Police chief pooped by desks, spiked coffee with Viagra, cops say in list of assault complaints
Five cops plan to sue the North Bergen Police Chief Robert Farley for allegedly assaulting, harassing and retaliating against them.
Cop Chief Accused of Poop and Viagra-Fueled Reign of Terror
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” the attorney who filed the suit against Chief Robert Farley said.
don't get the big deal
isn't this a routine daily occurrence in NJ? the state is a giant mental asylum
plus look at all the nepotism in that department
A police chief in Hudson County is being accused of assaulting and harassing his officers in a lengthy list of complaints that includes defecating on floors, exposing himself, attempting to drug coworkers and sticking a hypodermic needle into an officer’s. Chief Robert Farley, who was appointed chief of the North Bergen Police Department in February 2024, is also accused of retaliating against an officer who attempted to report him to the New Jersey Attorney General, according to court documents.
Five police officers in North Bergen said they plan to sue over Farley’s alleged behavior, which also includes claims of retaliation, discrimination, sexual misconduct and harassment.
In an email on Wednesday, a township spokesperson called the claims “false and outrageous.”
“The Township of North Bergen has full confidence in Chief Robert Farley’s leadership,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that township officials have referred the officers’ complaints to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for review to avoid a conflict of interest.
The list of complaints ranges from a pattern of ongoing pranks like putting ink on door handles, setting off car alarms, or leaving crumbs on cops’ desks, to much more serious allegations of using racial slurs, spiking the office coffee pot with Viagra and Adderall, and sending sex toys to an officer’s home.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” said Patrick Toscano, the attorney who filed the claims on behalf of the police officers.
The officers say Farley’s toxic and abusive behavior had been ongoing since soon after he became chief. He has been with the department for 26 years and both his father and grandfather served as deputy chiefs.
Some of the officers say they’ve reported Farley to the Attorney General’s Office and that a state investigation is underway.
A spokesperson for the office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Farley, who earns more than $228,000 a year according to pension records, posted a statement to the department website after he became chief saying that he’s committed to making sure officers have the support they need to succeed, stay safe, and improve quality of life in the community.
“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 in the statement.
But some officers in the 123-member department beg to differ.
Michael F. Derin, 59, worked as a special captain with administrative duties assigned to Farley’s office in 2023, according to court documents.
Derin and Farley had been friends and traveled with other high-ranking officers in December 2023 to Saint Barthelemy, in the Caribbean.
In August 2024, however, Farley’s attitude toward Derrin changed, according to the officer’s notice of intent to sue.
“Chief Farley chases me around his office,” Derrin wrote in his notice. “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
Derin wrote the needle drew blood and that he was further humiliated when he had to explain the injury to his wife.
When another officer filed a notice of intent to sue the department, Farley allegedly blamed Derin for giving the officer information that could be used against him.
“From this point on, the chief creates a hostile work environment,” Derin wrote.
“The chief would shave his body hair on people’s property, their persons, and their food,” Derin wrote. “He was also fond of scraping fluids from his underwear onto people seated in the chief’s office.”
Derin claims he was no his way to report Farley to the state Attorney General’s Office when a captain called him to fire him.
North Bergen Police Chief Robert Farley, without a shirt, appears to shave his arm on a police officer's desk.New Jersey Superior Court
Four other officers filed allegations against Farley: Derin’s son, Detective Michael A. Derin; Lt. Alex Guzman, Officer Rasheed Siyam and Officer Christopher Bowen.
They each detailed various complaints of harassment, sexual misconduct, discrimination and retaliation.
Detective Derin said he witnessed Farley dump a handful of Viagra and Adderall into a coffee pot, stirring the pills until they dissolved, and then waiting for someone to drink a cup. After that, Derin said he would get his coffee from a K-Cup machine “because I did not feel it was safe to drink from the pot anymore,” he wrote.
Guzman claims in his notice that Farley on multiple occasions came out of the bathroom in his office, exposed himself to others in the room, and made inappropriate comments.
“Chief Farley has, on several occasions, pulled his pants down and defecated on the floor in front of his entire office staff,” Guzman wrote.
“He has also left feces on the bathroom floor, apparently with the intent of having someone unknowingly step on it,” the lieutenant wrote.
Farley also allegedly was clogging the toilet with paper and other objects, and defecating in wastebaskets near the desks of other officers, the notice says.
Police Chief Robert Farley is accused of defecating on the floor, in waste baskets and in front of officers.Photo provided
Guzman claims his family members were also subjected to Farley’s harassment after the chief sent sex toys, intimate lotions and gay pride flags to his home.
“These items, which were opened by my wife and seen by my children, have caused unnecessary distress,” Guzman wrote.
The lieutenant says in filings that Farley became convinced Guzman had filed OPRA requests to gain public information to use against him.
“(Farley) slandered my name in the department, using me as a scapegoat for all the discord in the department that his poor decisions created,” Guzman wrote.
Guzman wrote that he and his family have suffered from “severe emotional distress” that can be traced back to Farley. He also says he’s been seeing a psychologist due to the alleged ongoing harassment.
Among some of the other incidents of harassment the officers had to endure included Farley placing hot sauce in a microwave, which essentially turned the substance into a pepper spray that permeated the office.
“I rushed to turn off the microwave as fast as possible, but the fumes spread from the chief’s office throughout the entire police department so badly the fire department had to be called in order to vent the building and get the scent out,” Derin wrote.
He also put firecrackers under officers’ chairs, once ripped a television monitor off the wall and smashed it to pieces, and yanked a doorbell off a wall because he felt too many people were visiting the office, Derin claimed.
Police Chief Robert Farley is accused of smearing egg on door handles, sending a gay pride flag to the home of an officer along with sex toys, and breaking glass in a fit of rage in the office.Photos provided
Officer Siyam claims Farley and other managers retaliated against him for being a whistleblower who cooperated with an internal affairs investigation over a hostile work environment and civil rights violations.
Siyam told investigators that others in the department called him “camel jockey” and “terrorist,” and that a detective told him people of his heritage were responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
Officer Bowen claims in his notice that he was reassigned to an undesirable shift due to ticket and arrest quotas, in violation of New Jersey law.
He also claims he was placed under the direct supervision of an officer who doesn’t like him, which has caused undue stress.
Toscano, the attorney who filed the claims, said the notices outline the potential for damages or injuries and are required before an employee can sue a public entity.
