CAMDEN, N.J. \u2013 The retired chief of the Bordentown Township Police Department was arrested and charged today with committing a hate crime and violating a man\u2019s civil rights by using excessive force during an arrest.<\/p>\n
Frank M. Nucera Jr., 60, of Bordentown, New Jersey, was arrested by FBI agents this morning and charged with a hate crime assault and the deprivation of civil rights under color of law.<\/p>\n
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:<\/p>\n
On Sept. 1, 2016, two Bordentown Township police officers responded to a phone call from the Bordentown Ramada, complaining that two teenagers had stayed in a room at the hotel without paying. The teens were listed in the complaint as \u201cCivilian 1,\u201d an 18-year-old African American man, and \u201cCivilian 2,\u201d a 16-year-old African American girl. After the officers arrived and questioned the teenagers, the situation escalated into a physical confrontation, with both teens attempting to resist arrest. The officers called for backup, and numerous officers, including then-Chief Nucera, arrived on the scene.<\/p>\n
After Civilian 1 was handcuffed and was being escorted out of the hotel by police, Nucera allegedly approached him from behind and slammed the man\u2019s head into a metal doorjamb. A subordinate police officer later surreptitiously recorded Nucera making racist and hostile remarks about Civilian 1, Civilian 2, and African Americans more generally. He repeatedly used racial slurs to refer to Civilian 1 and Civilian 2, and said: \u201c[t]hese fucking people\u201d should \u201c[s]tay the fuck out of Bordentown.\u201d He also said it \u201cwould have been nice\u201d if officers could have used a police dog during the arrest. Nucera said, \u201cI wish that n\u2011\u2011\u2011\u2011\u2011 would come back from Trenton and give me a reason to put my hands on him, I\u2019m tired of \u2019em. These n\u2011\u2011\u2011\u2011\u2011s are like ISIS, they have no value. They should line them all up and mow \u2019em down. I\u2019d like to be on the firing squad, I could do it,\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nobility of police officers is rooted in their selfless commitment to protect our communities and their pledge to honor our constitutional values. As Chief of the Bordentown Township Police Department, the defendant dishonored the profession by doing neither,\u201d Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick said. \u201cThe complaint alleges that the defendant harbored an intense racial animosity towards African Americans, and on September 1, 2016, that senseless hatred led to the unlawful assault of a handcuffed and defenseless prisoner. The conduct alleged is a shocking breach of the duty of every police officer to provide equal justice under the law and never to mistreat a person in custody. As a result, the former chief of police is now a charged federal criminal defendant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice officers take an oath to uphold the law. The FBI works to ensure that they are held accountable when they violate that oath and break the law,\u201d SAC in Charge of the Newark FBI Field Office said. \u201cWe rely on the police to protect the public. The few who take advantage of that public trust, at any level, will be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”<\/p>\n
The use of excessive force and hate crime counts with which Nucera is charged each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CAMDEN, N.J. \u2013 The retired chief of the Bordentown Township Police Department was arrested and charged today with committing a hate crime and violating a man\u2019s civil rights by using excessive force during an arrest. Frank M. Nucera Jr., 60, of Bordentown, New Jersey, was arrested by FBI agents this morning and charged with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5409,"featured_media":113556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n