A police captain in Passaic County, Capt. Ryan Cichon, threw a curveball at Pompton Plains by filing a notice of intent to sue for a whopping $2.5 million on Tuesday. He claims that Chief Derek Clark has been on his case for years in retaliation for whistleblowing and union activity. The 15-year department veteran asserts that Chief Clark targeted him after he reported misconduct, questioned practices, and exercised his rights to free speech and labor.
The notice alleges that the harassment began in 2017 when Clark, then a captain eyeing the chief position, saw Cichon as a serious contender due to his high test scores. Fast forward to 2019, the borough promoted Clark to chief and Cichon to captain, but Clark was not pleased with the arrangement. According to the notice, Clark believed Cichon didn’t deserve the position. In a lengthy 32-page filing, Cichon claims that Clark put him through the wringer with internal affairs investigations, stripped him of duties, restricted his access to essential systems, and slapped him with three Performance Improvement Plans, which were new disciplinary measures for the department.
Not really sure why this matters, but Cichon was allegedly stuck with the worst car in the fleet for three years—a beat-up 2004 Dodge Durango that became the butt of jokes among officers and townspeople. When Cichon contracted COVID-19 in December 2020, things took a turn for the worse. He was the only one referred to the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office for supposedly violating coronavirus protocols, even though he followed all the rules. The notice accuses Clark of creating a toxic work environment that rewarded blind loyalty and punished dissent, interfering with union grievances, and intimidating officers who supported Cichon.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, Cichon was suspended in July 2024 and faced 12 administrative offenses related to various police duties. The borough seems eager to terminate him, but Cichon claims the charges don’t violate any departmental policy. An administrative hearing to decide his fate is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Cichon is seeking damages under several New Jersey laws and had to file a notice of tort claim before taking legal action against a public entity. This development comes on the heels of the only Black police officer in the department filing a lawsuit against Clark for pressuring him to issue a minimum number of motor vehicle summonses, which is illegal.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like the drama in Passaic County is only just beginning.
