Secaucus Police Officer Suspended Without Pay Twice In 2025

SECAUCUS, NJ — Police departments across the state of New Jersey are required by law to publish a Major Discipline Report, which details major disciplinary actions taken against officers in the past year.

The Attorney General defines “major discipline” as terminations (being fired), reductions in rank or a suspension (paid or unpaid) of more than five days.

Secaucus Police published their 2025 Major Discipline Report here on their website, and it has the major discipline done from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025. Only one police officer was listed by name as having received major discipline last year, and that was Police Officer Michael Borrelli.

Borrelli was suspended without pay two separate times in 2025, first for insubordination (refusing to follow an order from his supervisor) and the second for retaliating against a Parking Enforcement Officer (unnamed) who tried to give him a ticket for the street sweeper.

Here is a summary of the first incident:

"On March 12, 2025 Police Officer Borrelli was given an order by his immediate supervisor to review a case and either follow up with the municipal prosecutor or issue the summons requested by the prosecutor. Police Officer Borrelli failed to comply with the instructions of his supervisor and knowingly did not perform the duties he was ordered to do," it read on page 9 of the report.

In that instance, he was suspended for 75 days without pay.

Then, one month later, in April 2025, he was suspended without pay for even longer, this time 160 days, after his fellow officers say he retaliated against a Secaucus parking enforcement officer for ticketing his car. Here is a summary of that incident:

"On April 14, 2025 Police Officer Borrelli confronted a Secaucus Parking Enforcement Officer while she was enforcing a street sweeping violation on his personal vehicle. Police Officer Borrelli used his position as a police officer to sway the Parking Enforcement Officer from issuing a summons to issuing him a warning. Police Officer Borrelli informed another police officer that he would retaliate against the Parking Enforcement Officer and would pull her over while she was driving the Parking Enforcement vehicle. Furthermore, Police Officer Borrelli also made mention to another police officer that he knew what personal vehicle that the Parking Enforcement Officer drives and would conduct a motor vehicle stop on her."

"On April 15, 2025, the following day, Police Officer Borrelli left his extra-duty traffic detail post unmanned and traveled in the police vehicle that was being used as an emergency warning device and interfered with the same Parking Enforcement Officer, while she was performing her duties and enforcing a parking violation. Also, during his interview for this internal affairs investigation, Police Officer Borrelli provided false information." (Police did not say what.)

Making the Major Discipline Report public information is a relatively new requirement in New Jersey; police agencies only had to start making this list public in 2021. It's a requirement that was started by Gov. Phil Murphy and his then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, who said the information should be made public to improve police and community relations, and hold police departments, rank-and-file officers and police chiefs accountable.

Prior Patch reporting on Officer Borrelli: Secaucus Police Officers Save Man's Life In Harmon Cove Towers (2024)