Updated 2 hrs 36 mins ago
WYCKOFF, New Jersey -- A New Jersey police chief who was suspended without pay this summer for sending an email advocating racial profiling has resigned and will retire next week.
The Record reports former Wyckoff chief Benjamin Fox agreed to resign on Nov. 15 as part of deal reached with the Bergen County town. His 180-day suspension, which began Aug. 5, was also deemed "fully satisfied."
Fox will submit a retirement application dated Dec. 1 to the state Division of Pensions.
The agreement released Wednesday by Wyckoff officials contained no details about any conditions of Fox's retirement, the pension he will receive or what other benefits he will keep or sacrifice.
Fox was disciplined after the county prosecutor's office determined his 2014 email that said profiling has its place in law enforcement if done correctly "explicitly" violated a state directive prohibiting racial profiling.
Fox's email said profiling has its place in law enforcement if done correctly. It also said that "black gang members from Teaneck commit burglaries in Wyckoff. That's why we check out suspicious black people in white neighborhoods.
Wyckoff is a mostly white suburb, 30 miles west of New York. In his email, he also noted that New York police stop white kids in black neighborhoods there because "they know they are there to buy drugs."
County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal said an investigation didn't uncover "any substantiated instances" of racial profiling by Wyckoff officers. Town officials said Fox's actions were an "isolated incident" and that there were no "systemic problems" in the police department.
Wyckoff police officers underwent mandatory training in cultural awareness, use of force, internal affairs, discrimination and liability compliance.
Racial profiling is widespread in New Jersey. This idiot was caught because he was stupid enough to put his thoughts into an email. Most of the racial profiling is conducted by the traffic officers. Their most common excuse to illegally stop a driver is that "he was swerving to the right or to the left". This way they target Asians, blacks, Hispanics and others who fit several other characteristics, including: out of state plates (Texas, LA, etc), tattoos, long hair (mainly Asian drivers), etc. There are thousands of illegally stopped drivers in the court system, most of them in county jails.
Here is a case that illustrates the corrupt and illegal behavior of the New Jersey officers:
A young Asian driver (Vietnamese-American and US citizen) drives at night from Upstate New York (where he had visited his mother) to Louisiana. Inside the car is his girlfriend, sleeping on the passenger side.
He unfortunately has to drive through New Jersey Route 17 and then I-95. Around 2 am on the 6th of July, he is illegally stopped by Ramsey police based on the excuse that he was swerving to the right. Video from the police car shows that the Asian driver had Texas plates and had his window down. The video does not show that he was swerving to the left or the right.
There is almost no traffic on the Route 17 at that time.
The Ramsey cops stop him, but they never tell him that he was swerving to the right. They instead tell ask him if he was smoking marijuana. The driver replies that "I am just smoking a cigarette". However, the Ramsey cops claim that they smelled marijuana and that he was smoking the cigarette to mask the smell of marijuana.
These corrupt Ramsey cops order the Asian driver (who has chest-long hair, facial hair and tattoos) to get out of the car.
They immediately put him under detention and hand-cuff him. All that without probable cause, as no marijuana is visible by visual inspection of the car. These corrupt cops then demand that the driver allows them to search the car. The poor Asian driver is scarred shitless at this time and allows them to search the car. They search the car for at least half an hour and they do not find any drugs (as this poor driver did not have any drugs with him).
Eventually these corrupt cops always find an excuse to bring charges against the driver they have illegally stopped, including planting evidence, illegally jailing the driver, blackmailing the driver, etc. This is happening at an alarming rate in New Jersey.
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Wyckoff, New Jersey police chief on voluntary leave during racial profiling investigation
Toni Yates reports investigators are looking into whether a New Jersey police chief defended racial profiling in an e-mail.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
WYCKOFF, New Jersey -- A police chief is taking a temporary leave while prosecutors investigate whether he told his officers that racial profiling, including checking out "suspicious black people in white neighborhoods," has a place in policing.
Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy and acting Bergen County prosecutor Gurbir Grewal said in a statement Tuesday that their offices are investigating an email from Wyckoff police Chief Benjamin Fox.
"On its face, the email appears to be a clear violation of the Attorney General's policy strictly prohibiting racial profiling by police officers," they said in the statement. "We are conducting a full investigation and will take all appropriate measures."
At an emergency township committee meeting Tuesday night, Fox asked to go on administrative leave while the investigation is pending. A statement from the town said that Fox will explain the email to investigators and "demonstrate that neither he nor our police department has ever condoned or engaged in profiling."
The December 2014 email was released by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey on Tuesday. The group says it obtained it anonymously last week.
"Encouraging police officers to act with racial bias is unacceptable," said Alexander Shalom, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU in New Jersey. "Sowing mistrust at this level damages civil rights, and it threatens public safety by diminishing the faith people have in the police."
The email says that profiling has its place in law enforcement when used correctly and applied fairly. It says that officers should "check out suspicious black people in white neighborhoods" because "black gang members" from a nearby town commit burglaries in Wyckoff, a mostly white suburb, 30 miles west of New York.
The email says that New York police stop white kids in black neighborhoods there because "they know they are there to buy drugs."
"It's insane to think that the police should just 'dumb down just to be politically correct,'" the email says. "The public wants us to keep them safe and I'm confident that they want us to use our skills and knowledge to attain that goal."
The email says officers should continue to be fair to people and treat them with respect but should use "counter reaction as the law allows" if someone resists an authorized demand.
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Investigation into NJ police chief's email defending racial profiling
Toni Yates reports investigators are looking into whether a New Jersey police chief defended racial profiling in an e-mail.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
WYCKOFF, New Jersey -- New Jersey prosecutors are investigating whether a police chief told his officers that racial profiling has a place in policing, including checking out "suspicious black people in white neighborhoods."
Tuesday night, there was news that the police chief would take temporary leave while prosecutors complete their investigation.
Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy and acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal said in a statement Tuesday that the offices are investigating an email from Wyckoff police Chief Benjamin Fox.
"On its face, the email appears to be a clear violation of the Attorney General's policy strictly prohibiting racial profiling by police officers," they said in the statement. "We are conducting a full investigation and will take all appropriate measures."
Someone answering the phone at Fox's office said he wasn't available to comment. A message left with the mayor of Wyckoff wasn't immediately returned.
The December 2014 email was released by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey on Tuesday. The group says it obtained it anonymously last week.
"Encouraging police officers to act with racial bias is unacceptable," said Alexander Shalom, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU in New Jersey. "Sowing mistrust at this level damages civil rights, and it threatens public safety by diminishing the faith people have in the police."
The email says that profiling has its place in law enforcement when used correctly and applied fairly. It says that officers should "check out suspicious black people in white neighborhoods" because "black gang members" from a nearby town commit burglaries in Wyckoff, a mostly white suburb, 30 miles west of New York. The email says that New York police stop white kids in black neighborhoods there because "they know they are there to buy drugs."
"It's insane to think that the police should just 'dumb down just to be politically correct,'" the email says. "The public wants us to keep them safe and I'm confident that they want us to use our skills and knowledge to attain that goal."
The email says that officers should continue to be fair to people and treat them with respect, but they should use "counter reaction as the law allows" if someone resists an authorized demand.
"Above all, do what you have to do and that which the law allows you to do to remain safe," the email says.