Community Corner
Wyckoff Committee To Spend $25K On Law Enforcement Negotiation Counsel Monday
Barry S. Guaglardi is being hired for his legal expertise regarding negotiations, labor law, and criminal law.
WYCKOFF, N.J. — The Township Committee is slated Tuesday to hire a special counsel for one year due to the firm’s “legal expertise” with matters relating to negotiations with law enforcement.
The committee is expected to hire Barry S. Guaglardi, a lawyer with Rochelle Park-based Arturi, D’Argenio, Guaglardi & Meliti, LLP. Guaglardi has been licensed to practice law in New Jersey for 27 years, according to the township.
Guaglardi will be paid up to $25,000, or $425 an hour, a resolution stipulates.
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Guaglardi’s “extensive” experience also includes matters relating to “employment and labor law and criminal law.”
The Chief Benjamin C. Fox has been suspended since May 3 as the state continues to investigate a 2014 email in which he said racial profiling “has a place in law enforcement.”
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Related: Wyckoff Police Chief Steps Down Amid Racial Profiling Investigation
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and state Attorney General’s Office are investigating Fox.
Mayor Kevin Rooney has previously said that township officials are fully cooperating with the investigation.
Fox sent the email to every officer in the department, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU released the email in March, stating it came from an anonymous source. Fox, a 40-year law enforcement veteran, requested to go on administrative leave March 22 after the ACLU released it.
Fox condoned the use of racial profiling, saying that it “has a place in law enforcement if applied “fairly.”
Related: Wyckoff Chief Defends Racial Profiling Email
Fox also said, “black gang members from Teaneck commit burglaries in Wyckoff. That’s why we check out suspicious black people in white neighborhoods.”
Fox said in another email to township officials that he was not “endorsing racial profiling for the wrong reasons.”
Lt. Charles VanDyk is the officer in charge in Fox’s absence.
Capt. Timothy Condon of the prosecutor’s office has been monitoring the department during the investigation.
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