In another black eye for the already-battered Palisades Park Police Department, a probationary officer was arrested and charged with drunken driving earlier this month after Fort Lee police said they found him passed out in his car in front of a Linwood Avenue home, arrest records show.

The arrest and questions about the police chief's handling of the case come after calls for the chief to be suspended and a security review that said the department lacks clear management standards.

William Duarte, 27, is in his first year with the department, Palisades Park borough officials said this week. But they do not know much about the case, they said, except that Duarte is in treatment for alcohol abuse and Chief Mark Jackson has not suspended him despite his probationary status.

"It's my understanding that an officer was arrested," said David Lorenzo, the borough administrator. "I don't know the charges, because we haven't seen them yet. And I don't know his status ... we know nothing about it. Nothing has been officially brought to our attention."

Lorenzo deferred to Jackson for details. Jackson did not respond to several requests for comment.

Authorities issued Duarte, of Palisades Park, a summons for driving while under the influence of liquor or drugs. He is scheduled to appear in Fort Lee Municipal Court on Aug. 14. Duarte, who is on leave, could not be reached for comment.

The arrest is the latest in a string of blows to the Palisades Park police, who have in recent years endured several officer suspensions and the filing of a discrimination lawsuit in which a former officer alleges he heard Jackson and Councilman Henry Ruh making homophobic comments.

Jackson was also blamed for the collapse of a school security program that sought to staff district buildings with armed guards last year.

Officials had tasked Jackson with overseeing the program’s creation. But the school board withdrew last summer after a NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey investigation found that borough officials did not do background checks on the retired police officers they hired, even though several were accused of serious indiscretions during their careers.

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The Borough Council later commissioned a Chicago-based risk management firm to review the department. The findings, released last week, painted it as a rudderless agency with opaque rules, an unclear chain of command and outdated internal policies that violate state guidelines.

On Friday, Mayor Christopher Chung called on borough officials to suspend Jackson. They have not done so yet.

Lorenzo said the arrest further buttresses the report's findings.

"The report was not wrong," Lorenzo said. "If there was a policy and procedure that told you how to conduct yourself in certain situations, maybe we wouldn't be here right now."

Fort Lee Police Officer Gabriel Avella arrested Duarte at about 11 p.m. on July 3 after Avella responded to a 911 call from a panicked resident. The caller claimed a man appeared to be unconscious in a car parked in her driveway, according to documents obtained by the Network through a public records request.

"Somebody is in my driveway in a car, but it looks like something happened to that person — he doesn't move," the caller told the dispatcher. "It looks like something's wrong with that person."

"The person looks like they're passed out?" the dispatcher asked.

"Yes, something like that," another voice on the caller's end said.

In the report, police described Duarte as swaying, staggering and incoherent. His knees sagged and his breath smelled of alcohol, documents said.

Duarte refused to answer officers' questions about where he had been, what he had been drinking or whether he had eaten anything earlier, according to the report.

Chung said Tuesday that Duarte’s arrest surprised him.

"He's a very nice guy," Chung said of the officer. "I knew him for a while. He's a hardworking gentleman. I'm trying to understand why this happened — it's such stupidity that I can't seem to fathom why this would happen."

Email: janoski@northjersey.com