Dead, beaten, abused: New Jersey fails to stop police brutality

Killed. Beaten. Stalked. More than 200 citizens across the state have been victimized in recent years by out-of-control rogue cops. In many cases, the cops kept their jobs, even got promoted – while tens of millions of your tax dollars kept the abuses quiet. Until now.

Piercing the shield

New Jersey governments across the state, from the smallest towns to some of the largest cities, have spent more than $42 million this decade to cover-up deaths, physical abuses and sexual misconduct at the hands of bad cops.

The abuse of police power has left a staggering toll: at least 19 dead; 131 injured; 7 sexual misconducts, plus dozens of other offenses ranging from false arrest to harassment, a two-year investigation by the Asbury Park Press found.

The damage is concealed by government officials who use a veil of secret settlements and nondisclosure agreements to silence victims. Investigations of rogue cops are routinely hidden from the public by police, elected officials and even the courts.

The secretive payouts that keep abuses quiet are a vital part of a system that enables bad cops to do their worst. The secrecy starts at the police department and rises through the highest levels of government. Some of the state's largest cities and insurance carriers refused to release government documents that are at the core of the rogue cop problem.

But the tens of millions of dollars paid to settle hundreds of legal claims are not the worst part.

Many of the bad cops remain on the street.

The Press investigation found that several towns knew of their bad cops' propensity towards violence yet ignored multiple warning signs until the cops crossed the line by injuring or killing innocent people.

Meet Jersey City’s MD Khan, a violent cop.

In February 2016, Khan was arrested on charges of punching his brother-in-law in the face, causing “serious facial injuries and a possible fractured” eye socket and jaw, and threatening to shoot him, a police report stated.

Khan brushed off the criminal charges as a grand jury dismissed the claims. His only punishment: a 40-day police department suspension. After that, the officer returned to the streets, armed with a weapon and the full force of the law.

Khan’s suspension didn't prevent more violence. During a car chase that could have been a scene from an action movie, Khan shot at a suspect fleeing in a vehicle and then pursued the car through the streets of Jersey City, according to criminal charges filed against him.

The June 4, 2017, chase ended tragically for Miguel Feliz, 28, an innocent victim caught in the mayhem.

The father of a 6-year-old was driving home from his Peapod grocery delivery job when the suspect ran Feliz's aging Toyota off the road. The car burst into flames after slamming into a utility pole.

With his clothing on fire and choking on the acrid smoke, Feliz needed help from the police.

He got Khan.

Khan and another officer kicked Feliz as he laid burning on the ground. Feliz was struck in the face, a cellphone video shot by a passerby showed. Months later, both officers were indicted on aggravated assault charges. The officers have pleaded not guilty.

“I thought they were there to help,” Feliz said weeks after the incident, healing from four broken ribs – inflicted by police, he says – and multiple burns.

"But obviously not."

In another state, Khan's first arrest would likely have been his last day as a police officer. In Florida, conduct involving an assault can cost a police officer’s license to enforce the law, even if they're not criminally prosecuted.

But not in New Jersey.

From internal affairs to the courthouse, a weave of secret investigations, quiet payouts, nondisclosure agreements and court-enforced silence ends up keeping horrendous conduct and multi-million-dollar payouts away from public scrutiny.

Rogue cops are a fraction of the 33,000 officers who protect the public each day. But bad cops remain on the street because of one number: 466. That is the number of municipal police departments in the state, most with 23 or fewer officers, and some employing multiple family members.

Each of the 466 departments has a unique political culture and an internal affairs system that is rarely overseen by outsiders – unless the police chief believes an officer might have committed a crime.

New Jersey is one of five states that doesn’t officially license police officers or have a method to ban bad cops, much the way the government can disbar wayward lawyers or pull the licenses of intoxicated truck drivers. The other states without a police licensing revocation law are Rhode Island, Massachusetts, California and Hawaii.

Of at least 64,353 internal affairs complaints filed since 2011, less than one half of 1 percent – 226 – resulted in an officer being charged with a crime, the Press found. Of those defendants, 90 were convicted.

"There's just people out there that don't belong on the job. Fortunately, the numbers are few," said former Burlington Township police director Walter J. Corter, who also served as head of investigations for the Burlington County prosecutor's office.

To expose the problems with New Jersey's system for police accountability, the Press reviewed more than 30,000 pages of court, police and legal documents, settlements and once-secret separation agreements obtained by the Press, and interviewed dozens of victims, experts, lawyers and police officers.

The team found holes, conflicts and inconsistencies in police oversight that empowered problem cops in some departments to escalate their behavior until it became criminal, even deadly.

Consider:

A cop with domestic dispute history kills his ex-wife — Neptune Police Sgt. Philip Seidle has an internal affairs record that tops 600 pages and spans two decades, with several complaints known to involve domestic disputes between him and his wife. He was considered enough of a risk to the public that his service weapon was taken from him, but he was later rearmed. He used that gun to fatally shoot his ex-wife in 2015 in the middle of an Asbury Park street, in front of their 7-year-old daughter. He's serving a 30-year prison sentence.

Neptune Police Sgt. Philip Seidle has an internal affairs record that tops 600 pages and spans two decades, with several complaints known to involve domestic disputes between him and his wife. He was considered enough of a risk to the public that his service weapon was taken from him, but he was later rearmed. He used that gun to fatally shoot his ex-wife in 2015 in the middle of an Asbury Park street, in front of their 7-year-old daughter. He's serving a 30-year prison sentence. A well-known violent cop beats a suspect on camera — Bloomfield police officer Orlando Trinidad was known in the department for using force to subdue suspects, accounting for nearly a third of the so-called “use-of-force” police reports in the 120-member department. After nearly ripping the ear off a handcuffed suspect inside the police station in 2013, a lawsuit claims, Trinidad then looked directly into the surveillance camera to seemingly mock the ensuing internal affairs review by saying, “IA.” The suit settled for $364,000 without any admission of fault. He was sentenced to five years in prison for lying on a police report in a separate incident.

Bloomfield police officer Orlando Trinidad was known in the department for using force to subdue suspects, accounting for nearly a third of the so-called “use-of-force” police reports in the 120-member department. After nearly ripping the ear off a handcuffed suspect inside the police station in 2013, a lawsuit claims, Trinidad then looked directly into the surveillance camera to seemingly mock the ensuing internal affairs review by saying, “IA.” The suit settled for $364,000 without any admission of fault. He was sentenced to five years in prison for lying on a police report in a separate incident. A lack of oversight — Now-retired Bordentown Township Police Chief Frank Nucera Jr. was charged by federal agents in November 2017 with assaulting a black man and repeatedly making violent and racist remarks. The need for outside intervention by the FBI underscores the limited oversight of New Jersey's hundreds of police chiefs. His lawyer didn't return a message seeking comment. Nucera retired in January 2017, after the alleged assault but before the indictment. He is awaiting trial. Upon leaving, Nucera was paid $54,002, including compensation for unused sick and vacation days.

Now-retired Bordentown Township Police Chief Frank Nucera Jr. was charged by federal agents in November 2017 with assaulting a black man and repeatedly making violent and racist remarks. The need for outside intervention by the FBI underscores the limited oversight of New Jersey's hundreds of police chiefs. His lawyer didn't return a message seeking comment. Nucera retired in January 2017, after the alleged assault but before the indictment. He is awaiting trial. Upon leaving, Nucera was paid $54,002, including compensation for unused sick and vacation days. Repeated beatings claims, department inaction — Alleged beatings by Atlantic City police officer Andrew Jaques prompted at least two lawsuits. The city refused to provide the Press with the settlement amounts. But the case raised the ire of a federal judge in one decision who called Jaques "short-fused" and "volatile." He retired on disability in August, at an annual salary of $101,620, the Press found. Another city officer, Sterling Wheaten, has been the subject of at least 15 internal affairs complaints and the city paying $4.5 million to settle five lawsuits, according to media reports. No admission of wrongdoing was made in the settlements and Wheaten remains on the force at a salary of $108,548.

Alleged beatings by Atlantic City police officer Andrew Jaques prompted at least two lawsuits. The city refused to provide the Press with the settlement amounts. But the case raised the ire of a federal judge in one decision who called Jaques "short-fused" and "volatile." He retired on disability in August, at an annual salary of $101,620, the Press found. Another city officer, Sterling Wheaten, has been the subject of at least 15 internal affairs complaints and the city paying $4.5 million to settle five lawsuits, according to media reports. No admission of wrongdoing was made in the settlements and Wheaten remains on the force at a salary of $108,548. The $1.8 million cop — Battling a problem cop can be extraordinarily expensive. Taxpayers spent at least $1.8 million in a 9-year effort to fire Manuel Avila, a Paterson patrolman with a history of mental health trouble accused of sexual assault but acquitted at trial. Although not convicted of being a violent cop, the city put Avila on paid suspension that ultimately cost at least $940,000. The city also agreed to a $710,000 settlement with the woman, plus at least $92,000 in legal fees. In a settlement with the officer, the city agreed to dismiss disciplinary charges against Avila if he decided to resign. The agreement allowed him to collect $85,134 for unused sick and vacation time. He is now trying to get a $72,000 annual pension, which would include credit for six years while he was suspended.

In the Atlantic City case involving the “short-fused” Jaques, the Press found in court documents that Jaques was investigated by his uncle. Jaques remained on the force for another 10 years, leading to more lawsuits from civilians.

The quality of internal affairs reviews meant to root out rogue cops “comes down to one person — whoever is doing the investigation,” said Rich Rivera, a former West New York police officer.

For the last 20 years, Rivera has reviewed internal affairs investigations, police use-of-force reports in lawsuits and consulted with police departments. “Because the entire process is secret, we typically don’t know what the contents of the investigation were, and whether they were properly done or not,” he said.

While on the police force in the mid-1990s, Rivera worked undercover with the FBI to help put corrupt cops from his department in jail.

Internal affairs reports frequently show inadequate investigations and conclusions, Rivera said of the more than 900 IA files he has reviewed. Common problems included police investigators: failing to interview eyewitnesses; ruling a complaint “unfounded” if the investigator was unable to reach the victim; and failing to interview more than one officer, even if there were several at the scene.

“We don’t see too many consequences for bad police officers,” Rivera said. “The consequences are (for) those in the community – people being harmed, people being falsely accused of crimes, people being sent to prison who might not have been sent to prison if IA was working properly.”

Claims of abuses affected departments regardless of size, the Press’ investigation found. For example, the tiny borough of Absecon in Atlantic County, population 8,300, paid $2 million to settle a 2012 wrongful death case while Newark, population 280,000, settled a bodily injury case for $2 million.

Patrick Colligan, president of the state Police Benevolent Association that represents nearly all 33,000 police officers in the state, said he doesn’t dispute there were problem officers in the past, but today, with many cops being watched with cameras mounted on patrol cars or worn by officers, there is a constant oversight.

However, not all departments – until recently including Jersey City – use such monitoring devices.

Sub-standard police officers leave the force “close to every day in this state,” Colligan said. “Many you don't hear about, and it shows the departments are doing what they should be doing. … In 2017, there's nobody tolerating illicit or illegal activity.”

The financial toll

Injury, suit, settlement, silence. Repeat.

The more than $42.7 million of taxpayer money government officials have spent to hush hundreds of allegations of police abuse are enough to fund the education of 2,800 New Jersey school children this year.

In scores of lawsuits, the pattern is the same. Towns routinely take the path of least resistance, at taxpayer expense, to minimize their liability when they face a claim one of their cops violated, hurt or killed someone. Millions of taxpayer dollars are spent, nobody admits wrongdoing and officers accused of misconduct often remain in place.

Of the 531 officers named in suits alleging abuses, at least 231 remain on the job after their employer settled with their accusers, a Press review of employment records found. Many others normally retired years after an allegation.

From a budgetary view, most towns usually feel no financial pain from a lawsuit. That reduces the incentive for changing bad police behavior. A $1 million court settlement against a small town, for example, can be funded by dozens of municipalities that pool resources to form a joint insurance fund. The payouts are not announced to the public and the final amounts are usually hidden in paperwork that the public never sees.

Often these lawsuits are settled before a jury can resolve the critical question of facts – was excessive force used or were the officer's actions justified?

After a citizen files a lawsuit, lawyers for both sides and the judge frequently agree that police documents reviewed in the case will be kept secret, preventing public scrutiny of an officer's history.

In the rare event a settlement comes to light, town leaders echo the same talking points: Legal fees were mounting, but little local tax money was spent to close the case. No admission of wrongdoing was made by the town or the individuals involved. Compared to the specter of costly litigation, it’s much cheaper to settle a lawsuit, they say.

"The system is geared to try to come up with some sort of compromise,” Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said. “I don't think that you just look at it and say ‘wait a minute there was a settlement here that shows there was impropriety.’ A lot of times they may say, 'you know what, between all the costs and the liabilities, the exposure, this is better to move on instead of fully litigating.' The system is not drawn that everybody can get a trial."

Because every case is different, no set amount determines if a settlement was done to end legal fees or to prevent a multi-million-dollar jury judgment. Of the 243 cases the Press examined from 2010 through 2017, the average settlement payout was $178,000.

Some of the higher six-figure settlements include:

Homicide — Michael Anthony Burris' family called for medical help after he fell in 2010 in Millville. After refusing medical attention, he became combative and police handcuffed Burris and shackled him to a stretcher. Burris eventually suffocated. His death was ruled a homicide, but no criminal charges were filed. The town paid his family $875,000 in a settlement. The city denied wrongdoing.

Michael Anthony Burris' family called for medical help after he fell in 2010 in Millville. After refusing medical attention, he became combative and police handcuffed Burris and shackled him to a stretcher. Burris eventually suffocated. His death was ruled a homicide, but no criminal charges were filed. The town paid his family $875,000 in a settlement. The city denied wrongdoing. A beating claim — Philip Dubose settled for $500,000 after he claimed he was punched, kicked and pepper sprayed by Bridgeton officers in 2013. Dubose cannot talk about the case today. “We signed a confidentiality agreement with the police department,” said his lawyer, Alfonso Gambone. “We’re not at liberty to discuss anything else on that.” The city denied wrongdoing.

Philip Dubose settled for $500,000 after he claimed he was punched, kicked and pepper sprayed by Bridgeton officers in 2013. Dubose cannot talk about the case today. “We signed a confidentiality agreement with the police department,” said his lawyer, Alfonso Gambone. “We’re not at liberty to discuss anything else on that.” The city denied wrongdoing. Teens left in a freezing van — In 2011, five teenagers were locked in a Fort Lee police van for 15 hours in below freezing temperatures with no food, water, bathroom or warm clothing, according to two lawsuits filed by two of the teens’ parents. In two separate settlements, the teens each received $120,000 from the borough. At least 11 officers named in the lawsuits are still employed by Fort Lee, and their salaries range from $129,800 to $188,976. No admission of wrongdoing was made by Fort Lee.

Police officials often say the plaintiffs who file lawsuits against officers are seeking easy money, and that police are prevented from having their day in court.

“It’s so costly to defend these cases,” said Seaside Park Police Chief Francis Larkin, whose resort town of 13 officers has paid $3 million to settle police abuse allegations since 2007 – an unusually high payout figure for such a small department, the Press found. “There’s always been a hop-off point because of the cost factor involved.”

“It’s a shame that money became part of the whole formula because it would be nice to go forward all the way and show that there was no excessive force used on the part of the officer,” Larkin said. “That, I always thought that there was something wrong with that.”

Seaside Park, though, did have its day in court in 2007. A federal civil court jury found two officers liable for falsifying documents and one of the two liable for using excessive force in the arrest of three tourists. The four were eventually paid $600,000 in the case.

One officer who was a defendant in the civil trial, use-of-force training director James C. Citta, remained on the force – and was later named in 11 more lawsuits involved in the town's payout of $3 million. The suits were settled without any admission of wrongdoing from the borough or Citta. Citta retired years later on a disability pension. Several efforts to reach Citta were unsuccessful.

Calls to end secrecy

Efforts for reforms are being made.

All police-involved deaths should be investigated by the state Attorney General’s office, not a local prosecutor’s office, Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, a Democrat from Essex County and the former speaker of the Assembly, wrote in one of her bills.

“I think that the public is deserving of transparency," she told the Press.

Families of victims must be assured that there isn't a coverup of "the circumstances of the death," Oliver said. “I think there is great interest in doing social justice reform and criminal justice reform in this state."

Tinton Falls voters took matters into their own hands in 2017 by tossing out their mayor, a former police chief. A major issue in the campaign was once-secret police payouts.

The newly elected mayor of Tinton Falls rode the taxpayer outrage into office Nov. 7 after the Press exposed that $1.1 million was paid to settle two police whistleblower lawsuits.

Vito Perillo, 93, Tinton Falls’ new mayor and a World War II veteran, defeated the incumbent, who was the town’s police chief during the conduct alleged in the $1.1 million settlements. The former chief's son is a ranking officer on the police force. All government payouts should be publicly announced, Perillo said.

“If it’s legal, they should do it, they should publicize it," he said in December about the settlements, after his election.

However, invisibility remains the norm in many municipalities. The insurance carrier for many towns refused the Press' legal open records requests. And in court documents, many court records did not contain settlement amounts.

Open records advocate John Paff, chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Project, routinely blogs about settlements he's able to get from towns.

"What I'm hoping is it brings people to realize that maybe we need to fundamentally change the way we view things and concepts like employee privacy," Paff said. "Because the taxpayer seems to be left completely out of the picture. They're just the people who are supposed to pay the bills and not ask any questions."

One law the Legislature and governor can pass is a requirement that all settlement agreements be publicized before they are signed by government officials.

"How are you supposed to have confidence in a system you can't see work?" Paff said. "It's just, 'trust us; we've got this under control. You have to trust we're investigating ourselves in secret, and you need to believe we're doing the best job for you.'"

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, described opposition she faced from municipal officials when pursuing more open access to government.

“I’ve found almost universally this apoplectic reaction if you mention the words ‘open public records’ or ‘Open Public Meetings Act,'" she said.

“Where it involves public funds, I do not believe there should be a non-disclosure agreement because this is not somebody's money from their wallet, this is from the taxpayers," she said.

A judge is sometimes the final arbiter of openness. The Press has sued Neptune to force the township to release its 682-page, 20-year-long internal affairs file on Philip Seidle, the police sergeant who shot his ex-wife to death in the middle of an Asbury Park street in 2015. The township is fighting to keep the file secret, citing a state attorney general directive on confidentiality and the fear that all internal affairs records would be open to the public if the Press wins the case.

Departing Attorney General Christopher Porrino declined to comment after being presented with the Press' findings. He left office Jan. 16 when the new governor was sworn in. Gov. Phil Murphy's transition spokesman said the Press' investigation findings were shared with Murphy's attorney general, Gurbir S. Grewal.

Fire and police

Flaws in police oversight are personal for Miguel Feliz.

Weeks after the encounter with Jersey City’s police, he winced as he peeled back white bandages to show the pink and red burns covering his arms.

His ordeal started on the evening of June 4 as he drove home after a day delivering groceries in Coney Island, New York.

He was listening to reggaeton. He noticed the police behind him.

Suddenly Feliz's car was struck from behind by the vehicle Jersey City police were chasing. Feliz's 1999 Toyota slammed into a utility pole, power wires fell on the hood and the car caught fire.

A bystander filmed on a cellphone as four officers, including MD Khan, approached, with their guns drawn.

“Get down! Get down!” the officers shouted. Two kicks, clearly shown on the recording, immediately follow their commands.

The police union representative said that the officers were merely trying to stamp out the flames.

"No way. No way. There's no way. Impossible!,” Feliz told the Press. “I had to do all that myself."

Feliz intends to sue Jersey City for $25 million, according to a legal notice he filed with the municipality.

Four Jersey City officers were indicted following the incident, including two charged with assaulting Feliz. They have pled not guilty and remain on the force, suspended without pay – except for MD Khan.

Jersey City records show that Khan's termination had nothing to do with Feliz.

Khan, a four-year veteran, was fired over money cheated from the city and his disciplinary record.

More:Know your rights

A vendor paid Khan $232 for off-duty police work. The city said that was a violation of its rules, which require all payments to go through the city. Khan's attorney declined to comment.

In the transaction, the city would have taken a $32 administrative fee.

Is Khan an aberration among officers? Feliz thinks so.

"There's good officers out there," Feliz said. "There really are. Just that some are not."

The Asbury Park Press wants to hear from you. What are your thoughts on the series? What are your ideas for fixing the system? What have your experiences been with New Jersey law enforcement, for better or for worse? Share it on your preferred social network with the hashtag #theShield.

Contributing: Susanne Cervenka and Alex Gecan.

Project design and development: Felecia Wellington Radel

UP NEXT: Part 2 looks police brutality and proper use of force.

Asbury Park Press reporters dug into more than 30,000 public records for two years to produce “Protecting The Shield.” These same journalists report daily as watchdogs in the public interest: examining tax spending, exposing wrongdoing, highlighting advances and often inspiring change that makes New Jersey a better place to live. Follow their work at APP.com and support local journalism today.

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