Bergen County Detective Punished For Complaining About Son's Police Academy Injury: Suit

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A detective with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office says in a whistleblower lawsuit that after his son was permanently injured during police academy training, his bosses pressured him to stay silent.

Renzo Trapani filed the lawsuit on Monday in Bergen County Superior Court.

Trapani, a detective with the office, said that when his son Nicholas was training to be a Hackensack police officer in July 2023, he was permanently injured in an accident. He said Nicholas was required to have shoulder surgery and suffers from paralysis.

In the strongly worded lawsuit, Trapani says that in an effort to silence him, his colleagues in the prosecutor's office harassed him, "shunned" him, and even went as far as to ignore him when introducing employees to new hires.

"The defendants instead of blaming the wrongdoers and being apologetic to the plaintiff — the father of the permanently injured son — started a war against plaintiff because he should have just taken one for the team and put his family second instead of first," the suit says, "and let his son's paralysis and the ruination of his son's basic life's dreams to be a police officer and serve the citizenry get swept under the rug, leaving other trainees at risk if these people were not exposed."

The suit says Trapani "suffered from a multitude of acts that are hostile to his employment status" and work record.

As a result, according to the suit, he "suffers from anxiety and stress, has had weight fluctuations, suffers from heart palpitations, and suffers from stomach indigestion frequently."

'Blue Wall Of Silence'

In the suit, Trapani says that because the Prosecutor's Office runs the county police academy, and he called out conditions that may have resulted in his son's injuries, "The defendants blamed plaintiff for breaking down the proverbial blue wall of silence and concealment for brother officers, even if it meant that his son's terrible permanent tragedy would be suppressed and hidden from oversight."

The suit adds, "The fact that the defendants expected in their minds that plaintiff would remain silent like a made mob member in La Cosa Nostra is telling as to what type 0f amoral evil and jaded and damaged people are being sued."

Trapani is suing for damages.

His son Nicholas had filed separate a lawsuit in January saying that he spent three days in the hospital after suffering from heatstroke while at the academy, according to a report on NJ.com. The story says that the cadets' water and food was restricted on 90-degree days.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office confirmed that Trapani is still a detective there. They declined to comment on the litigation.

Police academy classes were temporarily suspended in January 2024. They resumed amid an investigation, officials said at the time.