ASBURY PARK - The city and the former head of the police department have settled a discrimination lawsuit in which he alleged that the city would not promote him to the rank of chief because he's white.

Anthony Salerno Jr., who retired from the Asbury Park Police Department in the spring of 2017, settled the suit filed against the city in Monmouth County Superior Court for a total of $85,000. Salerno, who served as acting chief of the department, retired at the official rank of deputy chief.

According to the undated settlement agreement, $45,000 was paid by Asbury Park's insurance carrier, the New Jersey Intergovernmental Insurance Fund, for bodily injury/emotional distress, and the other $40,000 was paid by the city for lost wages.

Salerno had sought $1 million in damages in his initial filing. See a copy of the original suit at the bottom of this story.

The city did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement.

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The suit claimed the city refused to promote officers recommended by Salerno and City Manager Michael Capabianco because "the city would have to promote white officers to the rank of chief of police, deputy chief, captain, lieutenant and sergeant given the racial composition of the current promotional lists."

The suit stated the city engaged in "a policy and practice of reverse discrimination."

Capabianco was named as a defendant in the suit. He declined to comment when reached by the Press on Wednesday.

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"We’re advised by our insurance brokers, who weigh what would the cost of a full-blown trial would be," Mayor John Moor said of the choice to settle, when reached by the Press by phone on Wednesday.

He declined to comment on the allegations made in the suit, which named him as a defendant, as well as city council members Yvonne Clayton and Jesse Kendle and Capabianco.

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In court documents, Salerno alleged city officials "intentionally interfered with the hiring and promotional process" in order to "satisfy their agenda of promoting more officers of color" in the police department.

Salerno started with the department in 1988 and was promoted to deputy chief in May 2014. In September of that year, after Chief Mark Kinmon's retirement, Salerno was named as the acting chief of police.

Salerno's annual pay when he retired was $136,520, a city official told the Press in 2017. Last year received an annual pension of about $92,000, state records show.

In November 2018, the city promoted deputy chief David Kelso, who is white, to the rank of chief.

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Austin Bogues spotlights the changing development scene in Asbury Park and Neptune Township. He can be reached at abogues@app.com or 732-643-4009. Consider supporting local journalism by purchasing a subscription to the Asbury Park Press.

Andrew Ford: @AndrewFordNews; 732-643-4281; aford3@gannettnj.com