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Bloomfield Acting Chief James Behre confirmed today that he received a letter from Township Administrator Ted Ehrenburg relieving Behre of his duties effective immediately.

(Star-Ledger file photo)

BLOOMFIELD — Acting Police Chief James Behre was placed on paid administrative leave today, less than 48 hours after he spoke at a council meeting and claimed that a councilman asked him to trade favors to ensure Behre's appointment as permanent chief.

Behre, 50, said that he received a letter today from Township Administrator Ted Ehrenburg relieving Behre of his duties, effective immediately. Behre said he’s been scheduled for a “fitness of duty evaluation” with a doctor on March 3.

Mayor Michael Venezia confirmed that Behre was placed on paid leave today but said it was due to concerns over Behre's health and not due to his comments regarding Councilman Carlos Bernard.

"He's still being paid. We felt that we needed to take precautions," Venezia said. During Behre's comments on Monday, the acting chief claimed he had lost 10 pounds due to stress caused by the turmoil within the police department and that his children ask "why daddy is angry every night," the mayor noted.

On Monday, Behre publicly blasted Bernard, who represents the Third Ward, during public comments by claiming that Bernard sought favors on behalf of Hispanic police officers on two occasions, called township officers on their cell phones to divert patrol assignments and even asked Behre “to fix a parking ticket.”

Bernard told the acting chief that his cooperation “would solidify my position as chief,” Behre told the council. He labeled Bernard’s actions as “political interference” and demanded that Ehrenburg and Venezia call for an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office.

Behre, a 27-year veteran of the Bloomfield Police Department, said he's convinced he was placed on leave as a direct result of speaking out against Bernard's meddling in police affairs.

“That’s exactly it,” Behre said when reached by phone. "They can do what they want but I find it interesting that when a chief of police tries to protect his department, instead of taking my concerns seriously and forward them up to the Attorney General's Office, they relieve me of my duties."

Venezia maintained that Behre's leave is unrelated to speaking out publicly against Bernard.

"Speaking out? Absolutely not. That's a totally separate matter that we are looking into. We will do a thorough investigation" to determine the truth of the matter, he said.

Bernard did not attend the Monday council meeting and has not returned multiple requests for comment.

Behre claimed that the councilman asked him to promote a Hispanic officer to detective and said, "This will solidify your position as chief and make all your problems go away."

In another instance, Behre said Bernard asked that two Hispanic officers be permitted to take the sergeant's exam several months early. The councilman also asked Behre "to fix a parking ticket" — all to grease his promotion to chief of the 124-member department.

"He's come into my office and used the word 'we' to imply that he's there on behalf of the whole council," Behre said.

Behre became acting chief in January after Chief Chris Goul retired and took early leave as an Internal Affairs investigation into two officers allegedly taking improper military leave roiled the department.

Capt. Glenn Wiegand has taken over as officer in charge of the department.

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