Borough Police faces shrinking numbers

From May to September, the department suffered the death of its chief, the contentious departure of several officers, multiple inquiries from the Borough Council and ongoing internal investigations.

In a Borough Council meeting back in May, council members debated the effectiveness of the police force under then-Chief Anthony Federico. During Federico’s four years in office, nine officers left the force, a number considerably higher than in previous years. The council agreed to investigate the department’s efficiency “in dealing with internal investigations and officer misconduct, and why [turnover is] high in the department,” according to a May article in The Times of Trenton.

On June 28, however, Federico passed away while on vacation in Maine, leaving the department without a leader. The department has since been conducting a search for his successor and has not yet publicly announced a timeframe for hiring a replacement. The department’s three lieutenants — David Dudeck, Sharon Papp and Nicholas Sutter — are currently being interviewed for Federico’s job, according to the Times.

The falling officer numbers and budgetary restrictions faced by both the Borough and the Township have led the council to debate the merits of consolidating Borough Police with the police force of Princeton Township as the department continues to lose officers.

In August, Patrolman Garrett Brown left the force after facing a disciplinary hearing concerning charges that he served alcohol to six minors at a party he attended with a 14-year-old boy in New York.

Another former Borough Police staff member, dispatcher Brittany Kane, sued the department this month, alleging it had unfairly fired her in August 2007 following her complaints of sexual harassment. Kane claimed that then-Patrolman Travis Allie made her physically uncomfortable multiple times and obtained her “phone number without her permission and [sent] her messages suggesting that they engage in sexual activity,” according to papers filed in connection with the lawsuit.

Kane is suing for an undisclosed amount of compensation from several sources, including the department, four officers and Federico’s estate.

Even with fewer officers this summer, the department continued to investigate a number of long-term cases, including one that involved the arrest of Wilson Arnoldo Munoz in early August on charges of exposing himself to a female visitor to the University campus.