Promotion deferred

Embattled Warren Township Police Lt. Robert Ferreiro won’t be sworn-in as his department’s next chief as expected on New Year’s Eve due to his entanglement in an internal affairs investigation.

Ferreiro will instead take the oath of office in February, Warren Township Committee members said at their Thursday, Dec. 14 meeting. Whether the swearing in indeed takes place two months hence appears to hinge on the findings of the internal probe, which involves the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

Ferreiro was selected by the Warren governing body in October to succeed current Police Chief William Keane, who is retiring at year’s end. The committee’s original Dec. 14 meeting agenda included an intended resolution awarding Ferreiro a five-year chief’s contract. That measure got yanked. 

Instead, a resolution setting Ferreiro’s new swearing in date was passed. The committee passed a companion measure appointing Sgt. Matthew Saum as the WTPD’s officer-in-charge as the internal affairs investigation proceeds.

That investigation was launched after Ferreiro’s work as an instructor at a six-day 2021 seminar in Atlantic City given by Street Cop Training became public. The State Comptroller’s Office released a report on Dec. 6, critical of the content imparted to officers at the private firm’s seminar, that nearly 1,000 police officers attended from across the country.

The comptroller criticized the training content as discriminatory and teaching unlawful tactics during motor vehicle stops and other situations. Ferreiro was one of multiple instructors named in the report. It quotes him as using vulgar language and instructing officers how to prolong motor vehicle stops. The report ripped the tactic promoted by Ferreiro, alleging it was unconstitutional.

Ferreiro’s supporters jammed the Dec. 14 committee meeting, parading to the microphone to praise his past police work during the public comments portion. The comments of several pro-Ferreiro speakers spurred audience ovations. Those vouching for Ferreiro’s character included his mother, who lives elsewhere in New Jersey, but attended the committee session.

Committee members stressed that Ferreiro’s appointment as chief was not being rescinded. The swearing in is being delayed at the lieutenant’s suggestion, they said.

An exuberant show of support for Ferreiro by one committeeman caused a rare public rebuke from the township attorney.

Warren Township Committeeman Victor Sordillo, who will serve as mayor in 2024, told the audience that he attempted to convince Ferreiro to proceed with the year-end swearing in as scheduled.

Sordillo – the committee’s police liaison – touted Ferreiro’s prior work in the community and noted he had arranged for the officer to speak at an upcoming security conference for nationwide mayors arranged by the National Safety Council.

“I fought him,” Sordillo said. “I did not want him to delay. I wanted him Jan. 1.”

While Sordillo’s comments played well with the Ferreiro supporters who remained in the audience, he was silenced by Township Attorney Jeff Lehrer.

“Vic, Vic, Vic, Vic, Vic, Victor – Could you please stop talking?” said Lehrer, attempting to halt Sordillo’s commentary. “Can you please stop talking? There’s an internal affairs investigation. Please, please, I’m asking you – enough, enough.”

“I’m saying leave it alone – please,” Lehrer added.

The vote to amend Ferreiro’s appointment date to February passed by a 3-1 margin, with Committeeman Daniel Croson opposed. “Hell no, I’m not deferring this,” Croson said, although colleagues yielded to Ferreiro’s suggestion.

Street Cop Training founder and CEO Dennis Benigno released a video statement last week addressing the comptroller’s findings.

Benigno said Street Cop attempted to work cooperatively with the Comptroller’s Office on the report but was rebuffed. “That was not part of the agency’s agenda,” he said. “They wanted nothing to do with it.”

Benigno also took personal responsibility for any inappropriate or offensive language used “by a few of our instructors” at the 2021 seminar. “There’s no room for demeaning, harassing or hateful word or jokes in our training,” he added.

Street Cop is taking quality control steps in light of the report and has had no complaints about training offered since 2021, Benigno added.

Fallout from the comptroller’s report continues across the state.

In a statement on Tuesday, Dec. 12, West Orange Police Chief James Abbott said the report did not identify his department as one of the participants in the controversial Atlantic City training conference.

West Orange will still take a precautionary step in response, however. Abbott announced his police force will ensure all personnel at all ranks are properly retrained in 2024.

Abbott said West Orange’s training will include workshops on sensitivity, hostile work environments, sexual harassment, de-escalation, autism awareness, LGBTQ+ and defensive tactics, among other relevant topics.

The comptroller’s report noted that the Street Cop seminar could continue to have ongoing costs for taxpayers in the form of litigation and the need for officers’ retraining.

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