Hackensack Cops Near Settlement For $2 Million Over Retaliation Claims

HACKENSACK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Four police officers are poised to sign off on a $2 million settlement in a lawsuit they filed against Hackensack, its former police chief and six other members of the police department.

The officers claimed they were retaliated against by former Chief Ken Zisa and others. The officers alleged Zisa extorted money from them to support his candidacy in legislative races as well as other candidates.

Zisa was convicted of official misconduct and insurance fraud in 2012.

In one example, former Sgt. Thomas Aiellos said he was at home recovering an injury sustained while making an arrest when a supervisor visited asking him to vote for a top cop as a union delegate, Aiellos told the Bergen County Record. When Aiellos refused, he was accused of lying about his injury and stripped of his benefits, he said.

City spokesman Thom Ammirato told the Record that officials would not comment because the insurance company had not yet signed off on the settlement. Hackensack has spent nearly $6 million on legal defense and settlements, so far, in litigation related to the former police chief.

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