‘I’m assuming control’

Five days before Christmas, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald informed Warren Township officials that his office would begin overseeing their municipality’s police department.

In a Dec. 20 letter, McDonald cited state statutes as giving him the authority to take control of the Warren Township Police Department.

“…in my capacity as Prosecutor of the County of Somerset and Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the County, I am superseding the Warren Township Chief of Police, or Officer in Charge, and assuming control of the Warren Township Police Department,” McDonald wrote.

McDonald noted that he had consulted with the state Attorney General and Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) before proceeding with the Warren police takeover. OPIA is tasked with investigating violations of public trust and developing policies that rebuild faith in government and the criminal justice system.

The prosecutor’s chief of detectives, Francisco Roman, Jr. – or his designee – was named officer-in-charge. Copied on the letter were the state’s First Asst. Attorney General Lyndsay Routolo and Thomas Eicher, OPIA director.

The letter was addressed to Warren Township Police Chief William Keane, Township Attorney Jeff Lehrer and Township Clerk Cathy Reese.

The letter was obtained by Inside – Middlesex through the filing of an Open Public Records Act request.

McDonald’s correspondence does not state a specific reason for the takeover. But Warren Township Committeeman Victor Sordillo recently confirmed that it is related to a State Comptroller’s Office investigation of a 2021 six-day seminar in Atlantic City given by the private police instruction firm, Street Cop Training.

Warren Township Police Lt. Robert Ferreiro was an instructor at Street Cop’s Atlantic City forum and was among those whose activities were called into question in the comptroller’s report of the event. That report was released on Dec. 6.

The comptroller criticized the Street Cop seminar for allegedly teaching unconstitutional and discriminatory law enforcement tactics. It also alleged misogynistic content in some instruction.

The comptroller’s report alleges that Ferreiro used misogynistic language while instructing about motor vehicle stops and imparted an improper strategy to prolong roadside encounters with motorists.

The comptroller concluded that taxpayer funding might be required to retrain officers who attended the seminar and deal with any related litigation. Roughly 1,000 officers from throughout the country attended the seminar, about 250 of them from the Garden State.

Ferreiro was selected by the Township Committee in October as Warren’s next chief. He was scheduled to be sworn-in on Dec. 31 to succeed Keane, who is retiring at year’s end. Earlier this month, the committee passed a resolution deferring Ferreiro’s oath-taking – at his request – until at least February. The lieutenant suggested the delay due to a pending internal affairs investigation involving the county prosecutor.

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