kabwemet: 'It's about my family and my kids,' Hackensack acting Police Chief ...

ONLY ON CLIFFVIEW PILOT: For their 19th wedding anniversary yesterday, Hackensack?s acting police chief gave Christine Padilla the gift she?d hoped for. "Honey, I forgot to give you a card this morning," Tomas Padilla told his wife in a call from his office. Instead, he emailed her his retirement confirmation. His wife, relieved and happy, told Padilla: "You don?t have to get me a card." padilla1

Acting Hackensack Police Chief

Tomas Padilla

Many people inside and out of the department respect and admire Padilla, a former freeholder who hits 25 years as a police officer on his retirement date in February.

Yet even those who?ve been critical of his ties to deposed Chief Ken Zisa acknowledge Padilla?s open and honest management style, one that has gone a long way to restoring what had been the department?s tattered image.

"I'm very proud of what I've done over the past two and a half years," Padilla told CLIFFVIEW PILOT in an exclusive interview. "The department will be accredited, we?ve established some new initiatives -- including management development -- and we?ve increased diversity. We?ve repaired our reputation with the PBA, the fire department, surrounding towns and the [Bergen County] chiefs association.

"This has nothing to do with Ken Zisa. It?s about my family and my kids," he said. "I want to explore other things. There are other opportunities that I want to look at."

Padilla took on a thankless task in April 2010 after Zisa was indicted (and later convicted) on insurance fraud and official misconduct charges and Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli temporarily installed a monitor. Then there were the lawsuits, most of them against Zisa ? nearly two dozen in all.

Padilla was a co-defendant with Zisa in three of the suits filed by current and former police officers in Zisa?s final years at the helm. However, he was dropped from one and the other two were settled.

Yet he also testified during a deposition in another case that he and other officers used department equipment to work on political campaigns.

Combined, these create the climate that can bring pressure from outside, no matter how many inside the department respect the man.

It?s a measure of Padilla?s reputation that yesterday?s announcement by City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono instantly brought four job offers.

"Who knows?" said the father of three, all under 12 years old. "Maybe I?ll become a stay-at-home dad."

Not likely, considering Padilla?s gregariousness and involvement in public life. A man with a masters degree and eight years experience as a county freeholder doesn?t putter around the house, looking for things to keep him occupied.

One thing?s for certain, Padilla said: "In 140 days, [my critics] won?t know who I am anymore."

"I'm very happy with my decision," he told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. "I believe some positive changes have been? made. I knew that my work here would never be complete. I've done what I can, and it's time to move on.

"Best of all, I'm leaving my terms."

What?s meant most to Padilla at headquarters are the compliments of those who call him approachable and always willing to listen.

"If I can be remembered that way, I'll be very happy," he said.

By staying in the seat another five months, Padilla allows the city to make a smooth leadership transition.

Although there?s talk of city officials possibly considering hiring a civilian police director to take the helm of the once-troubled department, as well as the handicapping of who among three existing captains could be chosen instead, Padilla is careful not to offer suggestions.

"That?s simply not my place,? he said. ?It?s up to the city to make whatever decision it's going to make.

?The city has been very good to me," he added. "The professional thing to do was to give them ample time for a smooth transition. It's what best for me and my family, but it's also best for the department."

Those who suggested Padilla didn?t want to take the civil service test and possibly lose out to someone else to become permanent chief were wrong: He?d already filed to take it.

"Could I have done more? Sure. You could always do more," he told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. "But it?s time to move on."

RELATED:

Wednesday, 12 September 2012 13:36 Jerry DeMarco

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: First Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor John Higgins today said his office expects a judge who overturned two official misconduct convictions against former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa will sentence him to at least five years in prison for insurance fraud and for involving himself in an investigation of one of his ex-girlfriend's sons. READ MORE....

Thursday, 29 April 2010 19:04 Jerry DeMarco

WE BROKE THE STORY: Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa turned himself in to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Thursday night on charges of ordering a subordinate to file a false report to cover up a DWI accident his girlfriend had, sources with knowledge of the investigation told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. Details are still being worked out for how a monitor will end up running the department, the site has learned. READ MORE....

Thursday, 29 April 2010 22:44 Jerry DeMarco

To restore the public's faith in the Hackensack Police Department, a monitor will be appointed to review and approve the agency's day-to-day operations once Chief Charles "Ken" Zisa resigns, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned. READ MORE....

Friday, 30 April 2010 13:40 Jerry DeMarco

UPDATE: Capt. Tomas Padilla has temporarily assumed acting control of the Hackensack Police Department, under formal monitoring of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, in the wake of Police Chief Ken Zisa's arrest on charges of doctoring a police report and insurance claim after his girlfriend smashed his SUV into a utility pole. READ MORE....

Wednesday, 26 May 2010 20:05 Jerry DeMarco

Suspended Hackensack Police Chief Charles ?Ken? Zisa and one of his detectives were charged today with not filing charges against the chief?s ex-girlfriend?s son after he was involved in a mugging. City police tipped off investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutor?s Office, leading to an investigation and the charges against Zisa and Thomas Aletta, a source with direct knowledge of the probe told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. READ MORE....

Tuesday, 19 October 2010 19:05 Jerry DeMarco

Suspended Hackensack Police Chief Charles ?Ken? Zisa was indicted today, along with a pair of city cops who authorities said helped Zisa cover up crimes involving his live-in girlfriend. READ MORE....

Thursday, 18 November 2010 14:50 Jerry DeMarco

"It's a new era," proclaimed Hackensack Police Capt. Tomas Padilla, announcing the arrests of 26 people in a drug sweep that he hopes sends a message -- to residents -- that his department has a more professional approach to protecting its citizens.? READ MORE....

Wednesday, 10 August 2011 00:32 Jerry DeMarco

CLIFFVIEW PILOT HAS IT FIRST: A federal judge in Newark dismissed several civil rights complaints by a quartet of Hackensack police officers against suspended Chief Ken Zisa and members of his brass ? but, more significantly, warned that they might find themselves in serious trouble if they bring any more actions against their deposed boss. READ MORE....

Wednesday, 28 December 2011 17:40 Jerry DeMarco

CLIFFVIEW PILOT HAD THE SCOOP: A federal judge today dismissed most of a lawsuit by a Hackensack police officer against suspended Chief Ken Zisa and two other officers over a failed drug test that he claimed violated his constitutional rights. READ MORE....

Friday, 07 October 2011 21:27 Jerry DeMarco

UPDATE: A Bergen County grand jury has made it official: Prosecutor John L. Molinelli on Friday announced indictments returned against three Hackensack police officers and the sister of the patrolman at the center of the trouble. sellitto2

MUGSHOTS courtesy

BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR

The 13-count indictment springs from a fight that Officer Richard Sellitto, 27, and his 25-year-old sister, Dana (both LEFT), got into at a Paramus Houlihan?s before dawn on June 7.

Sellitto ? who had his jaw broken in a fight at a Hackensack bar months earlier -- called it in as an assault on him and his sister.

A short time later, a group of officers from both Paramus and Hackensack rushed to the home of one of the men, Andrew Milberg, seeking revenge, according to Molinelli. READ MORE....

Tuesday, 07 August 2012 09:27 Jerry DeMarco

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Mobile phone users can now provide anonymous crime tips to the Hackensack Police Department without disclosing their identities. READ MORE....