Palisades Park politics, conflicts hurt police sergeant's career, says lawsuit

PALISADES PARK — In his latest lawsuit, a police sergeant says political retribution for failing to support the mayor and internal conflicts with his mother, who is a councilwoman, have kept him from being promoted.

Sgt. Marc Messing, who has sued and settled with the municipality once before, says the borough, Mayor Paul Kim and Councilman Suk Min have been abusive and allowed political interference to hurt his career.

The lawsuit was filed by Messing's attorney, Richard Galler, this week in state Superior Court in Bergen County. A jury trial has been requested.

This is one of a number of lawsuits filed by police officers in a department that has been plagued with turmoil for decades.

In 2022, the department faced a number of issues, including a lawsuit that was settled, three new lawsuits and a tort notice filed internally by officers, and a prisoner escape that led to an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. No criminal charges were filed in the prisoner escape incident, but the former officer in charge, Capt. Shawn Lee, retired as part of a settlement agreement and Lt. Alessandro Monteleone resigned.

During the past decade, the department has had five chiefs and numerous issues, including suspensions, lawsuits and infighting. Some of the department's troubles date to the 1990s, when officers were found to be running a burglary ring, which brought unwanted national attention to the department and borough.

Messing's lawsuit against the borough

Messing has been an officer in the borough Police Department since 2001. He is the son of Councilwoman Cynthia Pirrera.

"The defendants have been abusive and allowed political interference to take place hurting the careers of [Messing], his promotions and opportunities that should have been available to [him] and allowed threats to be carried out by failing to promote him to at least lieutenant as was recommended and promised on various occasions through October 2023," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also alleges that even though the mayor and council control the Police Department, they have improperly requested political support on several occasions.

"Mayor Paul Kim and Councilman Suk Min and others have improperly abused the system and promoted their favored employees whether or not it was appropriate and passed over Messing on various times and dates," the lawsuit states.

Besides promotions, it says, the favoritism included assignments for certain employees, "favorite assignments for employees who followed the correct political line" and promotions for employees whether they had the proper experience or not.

"The department has been separated into those who follow the wishes of certain employees and those who wish to follow the proper rules and regulations and stay away from political tyranny," the suit says.

Kim and Min were and remain politically at odds with Pirrera, according to the suit.

Kim met with Messing in the Borough Hall parking lot in March to request that his mother not run for reelection. On a separate occasion, the mayor told Messing: "You didn't help me get elected. Don't forget that."

This has had an effect on Messing, who is within 15 months of retirement, including his promotion and his potential for retirement pension and future income.

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The lawsuit says Kim met with Pirrera and told her: "Your son will not be safe in his job and have any chance of promotion if you run for a new term as councilwoman."

"It is clear that Messing was prevented from being promoted due to the political influence and retribution of Suk Min and Paul Kim and their desire for payback against Pirrera," reads the suit.

Messing was jumped over by others for positions, even though he was the highest-ranking sergeant in the department. Two other sergeants below Messing were promoted, one to captain and the other to lieutenant.

In March, a promotion for Messing was on the agenda, but because of "political situations" the promotion was tabled and never carried out, the lawsuit says.

Messing is asking for all department promotions from 2021 to be void; for immediate promotion to lieutenant, along with back pay and pension; for compensatory, consequential and other damages, interest, attorney fees and costs of the suit; and for any other relief the court deems fit.

Infighting

Despite a reorganization meeting in January, the Borough Council wasn't fully staffed until March, after lawsuits and a judge's ruling on who would fill a vacant seat.

Pirrera and fellow members Stephanie Jang and Jae Park originally sued Mayor Chong "Paul" Kim, Councilman Jason Kim, Councilman Michael Vietri and the Democratic County Committee of Palisades Park after two people were sworn in for one open council seat.

A council vacancy was created when Chong "Paul" Kim, then a Democratic councilman, won a mayoral election in November 2022. At the center of the legal battle was who would be allowed to make the final decision on the vacancy, the Democratic County Committee or three members of the council, due to the timing of the seat's opening.

After the council was whole, a lawsuit was filed by the council to reverse the promotions of the police chief and captain.

The lawsuit was brought by the current mayor and council members, who challenged the validity of the promotions made by a lame-duck mayor and members of the previous council in December on the basis that they were done without enough votes.

During his last meeting as mayor, Christopher Chung promoted Officer in Charge Capt. Anthony Espino to chief, after three previously failed attempts, and Sgt. John Gasparovich to captain, skipping the rank of lieutenant.

Espino's promotion came after the council approved a $40,000 settlement with him in his lawsuit against the borough.

After a judge ruled in the council's favor, the majority of the new council reinstated the promotions.

Prosecutor's report reveals political interference with police

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office began an assessment of the borough Police Department in September 2022 after a jump in the number of investigatory and disciplinary issues. Investigators set out to review the department's operational and administrative processes and its compliance with law enforcement best practices, Prosecutor's Office directives and state Attorney General's Office guidelines, the assessment report said.

The assessment was released in the spring and found the department to be plagued with heavy political influence and a lack of leadership and procedures.

The assessment found that most officers have contributed to or worked with political organizations within the borough and that those same officers believed the "political influences had done immense harm" to the department. Officers told Prosecutor's Office investigators the influence made it difficult to supervise, manage and appropriately discipline officers, as politics affected many of these decisions.

The same political influence may have kept officers from getting adequate training and left them without proper supervision and open to manipulation from political sources, especially when it comes to discipline, the assessment found.

Messing settlement

Previously, Messing was charged with forgery and theft for depositing a $1,000 check from a utility company paying for a police detail into his personal account rather than the borough treasury in 2014.

The defense argued that it was a mistake, not a crime, while the prosecutors argued that Messing, then an 11-year veteran, was too experienced for such an error. Utility companies normally pay the borough for the cost of police details, and then the borough splits the money with the officer.

Messing was acquitted of forgery and theft and awarded a $675,000 settlement for attorney fees, pain and suffering. He was reinstated to his job, received more than $450,000 in back pay, and was appointed as the school resource officer.

Borough microphone left on

Messing's mother was caught on a hot mic saying she believed the mayor and council were looking to fire her son from the Police Department instead of promoting him.

Messing was one of several officers who received a Rice notice, which is a notification that their employment would be discussed in public, for that January council meeting.

"I want Marc to come with an attorney," Pirrera tells then-Borough Attorney John Schettino. "No matter what it's about. I don't care. He's not coming without an attorney. Not my kid."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Palisades Park NJ police sergeant files lawsuit against town