A lawsuit filed by former Police Chief Robert Cowan claims that Mayor Steven Fulop, Public Safety Director James Shea, and other unnamed defendants interfered with the Police Department for political reasons and even gave orders to create traffic tie-ups at two Port Authority facilities located in Jersey City.
Cowan, who was removed as police chief in July, has filed a suit against Jersey City, the mayor, and the public safety director, claiming that they tried to order him to do things he felt were not proper.
The suit alleges that city officials asked him to “cover up” several activities, including driving under the influence by superior officers in the Police Department, and an out-of-state DUI involving a high ranking member of the Fulop Administration.
The suit also contends that Fulop tried to orchestrate a traffic backup near the Holland Tunnel and again near Global Terminal in retaliation against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Port Authority owes the city $400 million in unpaid back taxes.
Fulop removed Cowan as chief in July 2014 after Cowan allegedly refused to sign on to restructuring of the Police Department. Cowan was demoted and later retired.
Cowan refused to go along with a restructuring of the department.
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Under pressure?
Represented by Hackensack attorney Adam J. Kleinfeldt of Deutsch Atkins, P.C., Cowan filed his suit last week after weeks of rumors that he would do so. His suit claims that Fulop, Shea and others tried to remove him from power after he had refused to do things he deemed wrong.
The suit claims that Cowan attended a meeting in November 2013 with Fulop and other key city officials where Cowan had been allegedly instructed to set up a traffic stop outside the Holland Tunnel. The suit claims this was in order to put pressure on the Port Authority to settle a lawsuit the city had filed against it for back taxes.
According to the suit, Cowan was allegedly instructed a few days later to set up a similar traffic stop outside Global Terminal on the Jersey City/Bayonne border for the same purpose. The lawsuit said these traffic stops were conducted by the Jersey City Police Department on Nov. 18 to 19.
Cowan claims he discontinued the program because of concerns about safety, which a short time later led to a confrontation between him and Fulop at the annual League of Municipalities Convention in Atlantic City. Cowan claims Fulop allegedly suggested Cowan could be removed as chief.
Cowan’s suit also claims that Shea allegedly intervened on behalf of Council President Rolando Lavarro in an attempt to squash a traffic ticket, and that Shea allegedly wanted him to transfer the cops involved with issuing the tickets as punishment. The suit contends that authority for transfers rests with the chief, not the public safety director.
In his suit, Cowan said he believed reassignments as part of the restructuring were based on political factors, not the usual criteria of seniority. He said he was pressured by the administration to go along with the reassignments and possibly give up responsibility to a review board.
Why was Cowan fired?
After Cowan was removed as police chief in July 2014 in an apparent power struggle over the restructuring of the department, city officials said Cowan had refused to sign onto the new table of organization that among other things took some key departments out of direct control from the police chief, reassigning them to subordinate officers.
The changes, according to Shea, reflected “the administration’s intent to implement better police practices and improve morale.”
At a City Council caucus prior to the firing in 2014, Shea alluded to resistance inside the department to the changes, but did not mention Cowan by name.
Police officers with knowledge of the situation claim that the key change involved removing the police chief from direct oversight of the Internal Affairs division, which investigates allegations against police officers.
In a comment made at the time, Fulop praised Cowan’s service but also raised concerns.
“I want to thank Chief Cowan for his service and commitment to the Jersey City Police Department” said Fulop. “Particularly, he helped address an historic low number of officers in the department by redeploying personnel, dealt with our ongoing safety and infrastructure concerns at the Port Authority’s Global Marine Terminal due to heavy truck traffic, implemented safety measures during the Super Bowl, and worked with the Pulaski Closure Planning Team to develop a citywide traffic mitigation plan.”
But at the time, Fulop said he had a concern over the number of lawsuits alleging retaliation by Chief Cowan and Cowan’s resistance to best practices.
Fulop said Cowan repeatedly expressed opposition to these structural changes. In a letter to Cowan issued in July 2014, Fulop said, “We simply cannot move forward with these necessary structural changes to the JCPD under your leadership. We have also grown concerned with the number of lawsuits filed against your office for retaliation. As a part of this concern …are… assertions by the collective bargaining units representing your subordinates that they are unable to work with you.”
Cowan’s suit tells a different story, saying that he was allegedly under pressure from the administration to not issue tickets to patrons of a bar popularly attended by local officials, and other issues. His suit claims that the restructuring would have put Internal Affairs under Shea’s supervision.
At the time, Shea argued that Internal Affairs should not be located in existing police facilities for fear that potential witness or complainants might feel intimidated.
City officials said the restructuring placed Internal Affairs under a deputy chief, not the public safety director.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.