New Jersey township rejects Jew-hatred allegations within police department

Livingston Township officials issued a detailed public statement on Feb. 5 rejecting allegations of antisemitism raised in a lawsuit filed by a longtime member of the Livingston Police Department, calling the claims unfounded and rooted in dissatisfaction over a failed promotion.

The Jan. 30 complaint, filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Essex County, by Patrol Officer Christopher Wagner, alleges that he was passed over for promotion to sergeant and subjected to a hostile, antisemitic work environment. Wagner has served with the department since 2005.

According to the lawsuit, beginning in 2023, Wagner was told that calls for police service involved “one of ‘your people’ if the caller had a last name that sounded Jewish.” Officers also told Wagner that “your people are out there” when referring to pro-Israel demonstrators between 2023 and 2025, per the suit.

The complaint further alleges that in 2019, Sgt. Michael Herbert made a Nazi salute, mimicked a German accent and clicked his heels while stating the name of then-Township Mayor Edward Meinhardt, who is Jewish. It also claims that Herbert repeatedly made derogatory remarks about Jewish observances, including referring to Rosh Hashanah as “Rush a Homa” and calling a menorah a “devil’s pitchfork.”

Wagner also alleges retaliation after cooperating with internal affairs investigations and providing statements supporting claims in an earlier discrimination lawsuit filed by another officer in 2003. He contends that subsequent disciplinary charges and his denial of promotion were discriminatory and retaliatory. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, expungement of disciplinary records and an order promoting Wagner to sergeant.

In its statement, the New Jersey township said the matter is under legal review and that state law limits public comment on personnel issues and ongoing litigation.

“However, the township cannot stress enough that it categorically denies the allegations of Officer Wagner’s complaint and his characterization of an antisemitic environment within the Livingston Police Department,” the statement said.

Officials emphasized that the police department has “a long and valued working relationship with the Jewish community, including our local temples, religious leaders and educational institutions.”

“As a town with a Jewish mayor, a Jewish immediate past mayor, many synagogues and many Jewish residents, I can tell you that every day I see the LPD working hard to protect all of the people in our community,” Mayor Shawn Klein said in the township statement.

Klein stated that any such remarks, if proven, would be “completely inappropriate and unacceptable,” adding that he was confident the police chief would address them.

Township officials rejected Wagner’s claims of antisemitic bias, stating that the promotion process was “fair, unbiased and solely based on the merits of the candidates.”

Officials further noted that Wagner is the only officer to have received major discipline—defined as termination, demotion or suspension exceeding five days—since the state began requiring such reporting in 2020, citing a 35-day suspension for “fighting/quarreling with other members of the department,” among other reprimands.

© JNS