Attorney Dispels Police Lawsuit Settlement 'Rumor'

There is no admission of wrongdoing on either side and no finding of punitive damages in a settlement that for a lawsuit filed by a former Madison police officer against the police chief and Madison, borough attorney Matthew Giacobbe said Monday

"At this juncture, we're still finalizing it, and when it's finalized I'll let you know," Giacobbe said in response to a question about the amount of the settlement by former Councilman Sam Cerciello during the Borough Council meeting.

Giacobbe also said a number Cerciello said he heard for the amount of the settlement was inaccurate.

The amount Cerciello mentioned, $1 million, "is not an accurate rumor," Giacobbe said.

"It's lower than that figure, significantly," Giacobbe said, when Cerciello asked if it was higher or lower.

Cerciello also asked what recourse the governing body has if a police chief does something "wrong" and asked why borough officials couldn't take steps to avoid the lawsuit.

Giacobbe said he wouldn't comment on whether anything was "wrong or right, a settlement is a settlement, there's no statements of wrongdoing," and the employee was not Riced, so it would not be appropriate to discuss any individual employee.

But speaking generally, it's illegal for the governing body or municipal officials to engage in trying to run the police department, Giacobbe said.

The lawsuit against Madison and Police Chief John Trevena was filed by Anthony Kaspereen, a Madison patrolman for 12 years whose disability retirement was approved effective last March. He filed the lawsuit last June, by the chief in July 2010. His wife, Jennifer Kaspereen, is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, claiming loss of companionship.

"According to what I hear, the chief of police did the wrong thing, that's why we're settling," Cerciello said. "Why do these things happen? What's going to take place if he did something wrong and he's the chief of police. Is there going to be some kind of discipline or something? ... How come it comes to where it's costing money. We can't we stop these things?"

Giacobbe said the Police Chief Powers Act says the chief runs the day to day operations of the department and it's illegal for the municipality to intervene.

"The whole point is they want to try to isolate the police department from any type of influence whatsoever," he said.

The rules are "codified in the Attorney General's guidelines, and ultimately if there's any type of problem with the chief of police this governing body, this business administatror is precluded ... from conducting an investigation into a chief of police," he said. "The only person who could investigate the chief of police for any sort of wrongdoing is the county prosecutor."