Spotswood Police Officer Richard Sasso, Jr. is suing the Borough of Spotswood and its mayor, Jackie Palmer, alleging unchecked power, blatant cover-ups, and overt racism.
“There’s a completely hostile work environment,” said Sasso, who claims Palmer regularly abuses her power and changes policies on a whim to prevent certain people - including Sasso - from being promoted.
“Our mayor is a self-proclaimed bully,” said Sasso.
Sasso believes the mayor has targeted police because her husband is a former Spotswood officer who was forced to resign.
According to Sasso’s lawsuit, Palmer reportedly once told him, ‘You better start getting in line because when I tear through this place, the only people left standing are the people I like.’
“It’s par for the course with her,” said Sasso. “That is how she speaks. That is how she acts.”
Sasso’s lawsuit also details an alleged racist rant the mayor went on against a black Spotswood resident, prompting involvement from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the lawsuit, Palmer allegedly antagonized a black resident inside Spotswood’s municipal building, who was so bothered by the encounter that he returned a few days later and recorded his visit.
The mayor allegedly ordered police to remove the man and became irate when officers refused to comply, saying it would be a civil rights violation because the man had not committed a crime.
The lawsuit claims that Palmer said in response: ‘…and the elephant in the room is that he is [expletive] black and this is not a diverse town, let’s be honest.’ ‘I don’t need BLM and the KKK fighting on our front steps over this.’
Sasso said he was assigned to investigate the resident’s complaint and heard everything on officer's body cameras.
“I was able to watch the full thing and those quotes were accurate,” said Sasso. “Everyone was so disgusted by it.”
“This is a black individual who is harming no one, doing nothing to nobody except being present in town hall,” said Patrick Toscano, Sasso’s attorney. “If you look at it objectively, it’s disgusting, it’s abhorrent, and the remark was racist.”
Toscano wants Palmer to leave the office. “Bottom line here is, we’re strongly urging the mayor at this point to resign her position, effective immediately,” said Toscano.
Eric Bernstein, an attorney representing Palmer, released a statement to PIX11 News:
“My client, Mayor Jacqueline Palmer, is being targeted by a handful of members of the Spotswood Police Department, who are trying to describe her as a racist and an interferer of police operations. Mayor Palmer is not interfering with, nor has she interfered with police operations nor is she a racist.”
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office responded to an inquiry from PIX11 News, writing the office cannot comment on pending litigation.
PIX11 News also reached out to the Spotswood Police Department for a copy of the report documenting the alleged racist incident but has not yet heard back.
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