Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino resigned on Friday, his 46-year career in law enforcement swept away in a whirlwind of public outrage a day after secretly-recorded racist and homophobic comments that he made following Gov. Phil Murphy’s inauguration in January were made public.

Saudino yielded to intense political pressure led by the governor himself and resigned shortly before 3 p.m., as did four undersheriffs, George Buono, Robert Colaneri, Brian Smith and Joseph Hornyak. He initially apologized for his remarks and refused to step down, but a 24-hour tidal wave of criticism from Democrats, Republicans and civil rights groups swept him and his top brass out of the Bergen County Sheriff's Office.

Saudino did not come to work on Friday and announced his resignation through a press release issued by his communications director, William Schievella. He did not respond to a request for comment left by text and voicemail afterward.

Murphy, who led the charge for Saudino to resign after the sheriff insulted his attorney general, Gurbir Grewal, and his lieutenant governor, Sheila Oliver, promised to appoint an interim sheriff "who can regain the public's trust." In the meantime, Murphy appointed Chief Kevin Pell to take over day-to-day operations of the sheriff's office, and left Warden Steve Ahrendt to run the jail.

“With the resignation of Sheriff Saudino, we can now begin the process of restoring faith in the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office after so much of it was so quickly eroded," Murphy said in a statement. "And, we can begin the process of ensuring that the bigoted beliefs displayed by the former Sheriff are not given shelter in any corner of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office – now or in the future."

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Grewal echoed the governor in condemning bigotry, but suggested that the removal of Saudino and his staff may be just the first step in a shake-up of the Bergen County Sheriff's Department. There have been complaints by minority officers that Saudino's top brass were all white, and not reflective of Bergen County's diverse population.

"The fact that a top official could make racist comments about the African-American community — and that no one in the room would challenge or correct him — raises serious concerns," Grewal said.

Grewal added that he's going to send in his newly-established Office of Public Integrity & Accountability to work with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to make changes in the sheriff's department with Saudino gone.

"OPIA was designed precisely for incidents like this, and Tom Eicher, the new OPIA Director, will work with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to examine whether there are deeper issues that warrant a wider investigation," Grewal said.

Matthew Murray, the president of PBA Local 134 which represents sheriff’s officers, said the union was willing to work with the Grewal’s office to make changes.

“The men and women of Bergen County PBA Local 134 will contact New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in the very near future to discuss what PBA Local 134 can do to try to undo the damage that may have been caused to all law enforcement personnel employed within Bergen County, as a direct result of the Sheriff's comments," Murray said.

Saudino's sudden crash and burn came a day after a New York radio station, WNYC, published a tape secretly recorded in January in which Saudino is heard chatting with members of his staff hours after Murphy's inaugural address. On the tape, Saudino references Murphy's proposal to legalize marijuana, and says that pot legalization would "let the blacks come in, do whatever the [expletive] they want, do this do that, don't worry about it. You know, we'll tie the hands of cops."

Saudino is also heard disparaging Murphy's appointment of Grewal as state attorney general, and says he only got the job because he wears a turban, a ceremonial headdress common in Grewal's Sikh heritage. He also questions Oliver's sexuality, wondering aloud if she's gay because she's never been married.

The criticism came fast and furious after the story on Thursday. Politicians on both sides of the aisle from Murphy on down, called on the sheriff to step down. Saudino never denied making the slurs, but initially resisted resigning, and first issued a general apology for remarks that he termed were "insensitive."

But the criticism spread like wildfire on Friday, while Saudino took a day off. Sen. Loretta Weinberg said she wanted to expel Saudino from the Democratic Party, which he switched to in 2016 to run for reelection.

Weinberg says she believes party bylaws would allow for such a step, and plans to ask state Democratic Chairman John Currie and Bergen County Democratic Committee Chairman Lou Stellato to explore their options and pursue the step.

“I want it made very clear,’’ Weinberg said during a brief interview in the NJTV studios in Newark before Saudino resigned. “This is completely opposite from what the Democratic Party stands for, what Governor Murphy stands for and what the legislature stands for."

From Trenton, there came rumbles from legislators about impeachment should Saudino, who is a Constitutional officer elected by the people, refused to leave office.

Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, who is up for reelection in November, repeated his call for Saudino to resign on Friday before Saudino's announcement.

"The things that were said in that room are not indicative of who we are as Bergen County people," Tedesco said.

Friday was national POW/MIA day, and Bergen County held a ceremony at the administration building, across the street from Saudino's office in Hackensack. Saudino was not there, but some of his top brass, Colaneri among them, attended the ceremony, which honored two local POWs, Vito Trause, 93, of Washington Township, who is still living, and Anthony N. Iannarelli, a Navy corpsman from Fair Lawn, who is deceased.

Saudino was absent from the county offices, jailhouse and courthouse on Friday. He did not answer his door at his home in Emerson.

A rally and sit-in had been planned for the parking lot of at the Sheriff's Office at Bergen County Plaza in Hackensack that was to be led by Kenyatta Stewart, Newark’s City Council attorney and a prominent civil rights advocate in Paterson. But the rally was canceled.

“People of all backgrounds, races and religions went out to vote for him,” Stewart said. “He shouldn’t feel comfortable serving in a capacity where people can’t trust now because his true feelings have come out.”

Political columnist Charlie Stile, and staff writers Kaitlin Kanzler, Tom Nobile, Rodrigo Torrejon, Svetlana Shkolnikova and Anthony Zurita contributed to this article.

Email: CowenR@northjersey.com

Earlier coverage

More:Weinberg wants to force Michael Saudino out of Democratic Party

Earlier story:Murphy calls for Bergen Sheriff Saudino's resignation after racist tape

Calls for resignation:Here are the people calling for Saudino to resign after racist tape