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“Given the severity and intentional nature of [Riotto’s] conduct, I conclude that the demotion from lieutenant to sergeant fairly penalizes the appellant for his misconduct,” wrote Judge Walter Braswell, sitting in Newark.
“Were any less discipline imposed, the ability of the HPD to (1) maintain order in its ranks, (2) cultivate an atmosphere of trust and respect, and (3) ensure the well-being of its officers and the general public, could be irretrievably compromised.”
Braswell decided the case after a Jan. 4 hearing followed by the submission of additional briefs he requested from attorneys for Riotto and the city.
Riotto was demoted after a Superior Court judge, acting as a hearing officer, found him guilty on Dec. 7, 2010 of administrative charges that he failed to report a threat made by a now retired city sergeant against the local union president while he was working as a tour commander.
Judge James Murphy also determined that Riotto improperly recorded conversations by fellow officers.
One of the secretly recorded discussions involved Sgt. Anthony Trezza, since retired, who allegedly threatened to shoot Police Officer Anthony Ferraioli and himself in the head if Ferraioli won the election for president of PBA Local 9.
Ferraioli was elected to the post in October 2009. No one was shot. However, Ferraioli filed criminal charges against Trezza (SEE GRAPHIC BELOW).
Riotto contended that he told Ferraioli about the threat but not Chief Ken Zisa because of the now-suspended chief’s relationship with Trezza.
However, Riotto also failed to notifiy “his supervisor or any superior officer,” Braswell wrote in his decision, a copy of which was obtained by CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Riotto “did not fill out an ‘event card,’ offense report, or a confidential report to Zisa regarding such threats,” the administrative law judge added.
Braswell noted that Riotta described Trezza as “being visibly ‘angry’ when he made those threats and has admitted that he ‘absolutely’ believed such threats to be real and “credible,” and was ‘shocked’ by them.
“Rather than report such threats that day to his supervisor or to any superior officer as required under various Hackensack Police Department (HPD) regulations,” the judge added, Riotto “merely let Ferraioli know of the threats. It was not until twenty-five days later that [he] advised HPD Chief Zisa of such threats by a letter to Zisa postmarked April 6, 2009.”
Braswell agreed with Judge Murphy that Riotto’s recordings, “made each day over a period of approximately nine months of mostly daily conversations he had participated in during his eleven-hour daily tours,” were “detrimental and subversive of the good order and discipline” of the department.
Braswell said Riotto violated various rules and regulations, among them: failing in his “duty to immediately report, in writing, improper conduct to Chief of Police; refusal to perform as necessity requires; neglect of duty; failure to report known violation of law; incompetence, inefficiency or failure to perform duties; (and) misconduct.”
The judge also noted that Riotto “admitted that the recorder was on most of the time secretly
taping all police business and any conversations within the range of the actively running
Insofar as his possession of the recorder and the secret recordings of police business were unknown to anyone, same were not sanctioned or approved by any superior, and were not made in connection with any official or sanctioned or approved police department investigation or business.
“The only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from the foregoing was that such recordings of police business were being made for [his] own personal reasons.”
Riotto is among a group of current and retired city cops who have sued Zisa and the city in state and federal court after being discliplined administratively for misconduct-related offenses.
Braswell’s decision included this excerpt from Riotto’s criminal trial:
Riotto was also asked: “Do you have a legal obligation to report a viable threat of a murder or a suicide?
“No.I think this is a different situation,” he responded, according to the transcript. “This is an incredible situation, but yes I do. I do.”
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