The Associated Press
SEASIDE PARK, N.J. — The shore town of Seaside Park has paid out more than $1.5 million in the last two years to settle excessive-force lawsuits filed against its police department, according to a review conducted by a newspaper.
One of the plaintiffs, a man who said he was handcuffed and beaten by police, was paid $275,000 by the borough’s insurance carrier last month to settle his claims, the Asbury Park Press of Neptune reported in Sunday’s editions. Officials in the Ocean County community did not acknowledge any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
The plaintiff, Dean Hughes, 39, of Brick, claimed the brutality occurred after he was thrown out of a tavern by bouncers. He provided the newspaper with photographs of bruises to his face and neck.
The newspaper documented 11 cases involving 13 people who claim Seaside Park officers used excessive force on them in the last four years. The accusers include a Monroe police officer, a college student and the former owner of a boardwalk stand.
Barbara Kierney, 43, who was a Seaside Park police dispatcher for six years before she resigned in March 2006, told the newspaper she was appalled by some officers who beat detainees, including those in handcuffs. She said her superiors and borough officials never responded to her concerns.
“When you’re in Seaside Park, you’re not in America,” Kierney said. “We used to say, ‘Welcome to Seaside Park. Leave your rights on the sign.”’
Former Police Chief William Beining III and borough officials have said the lawsuits and excessive force complaints were unfounded. They note that no borough officer has been charged with violating the law or been disciplined for any infraction related to the litigation.
“Most of these cases, these people, until the lawsuits were filed, had brought nothing to the police department’s attention about anything being out of the ordinary,” Beining said. “A lot of them didn’t even come in or even express any concerns about the way they were treated. A lot of these are after the fact; they asked for internals (internal affairs reviews) to be done two or three years later.”
Beining said many of the people who have sued the department pleaded guilty to some of the charges against them.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press