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July 13, 2008

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N.J. city disbands its auto theft task force

HOBOKEN, N.J. — The police unit of five Latino officers who sued the city and their supervisor was officially disbanded last week and four of the five officers who filed the lawsuit are back to walking a beat.

Their attorney is crying foul.

Acting Police Chief Robert Lisa confirmed last week he shut down the Auto Theft Task Force since vehicle theft in the city has tailed off. Lisa said he's removing some officers with good people skills from foot patrol to beef up his new "Community Services Bureau" and replacing them with the former auto task force members.

Luis Zayas, attorney for the Latino officers who have a lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court said transferring his clients out of the "elite" ATTF unit and into uniformed patrol, "speaks volumes about Hoboken's intent to retaliate" against his clients.

"They could have chosen to move (my clients) to another department but instead transferred them to uniformed patrol," Zayas said. "It is a less prestigious assignment and I do not think it is a coincidence."

Lisa insists the pending lawsuit played no role in his decision-making. In a lawsuit filed in October, the Latino cops allege their former leader, Lt. Angelo Andriani - who was more famous for leading the SWAT team - was an "unabashed white supremacist" who created a discriminatory and hostile work environment for members of both teams.

Andriani was placed on paid suspension after embarrassing photos taken during two trips to Louisiana surfaced showing him and SWAT team members posing with Hooter's waitresses holding SWAT team weaponry.

Former Police Chief Carmen LaBruno retired shortly after other photos showed him posing with a partially exposed Mardi Gras partyer.

Three of the Latino officers and former ATTF detectives - George Fonseca, James Perez and Cesar Olavarria - were notified in a memo that they were being transferred to uniform patrol on different squads.

Another party to the lawsuit, former ATTF member Mario Novo, was put back on uniform patrol in June.

The other litigant, Sgt. Edwin Pantoja, who replaced Andriani as leader of the ATTF, was transferred to the Detective Bureau in January and does not walk a beat.

Copyright 2008 The Jersey Journal

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