Disgraced Westfield Police Chief Seeks Sea Bright Police Chief Job

UPDATED 2/4/19 11:45am.  (See below)

A TFoTM source states that disgraced ex-Westfield police chief David Wayman has applied to become Sea Bright’s next police chief.  Wayman abruptly resigned from the WPD on August 1, 2018 during a Union County Prosecutor’s Office investigation into alleged corruption and misconduct including a hit and run accident and coverup allegedly involving Wayman.

Westfield police Lieutenant Leonard Lugo, the author of the hit and run accident, was demoted back to patrol sergeant in the wake of the investigation. 

Sea Bright’s police department includes 5 patrolmen, 1 detective, 1 corporal, 2 sergeants, 1 lieutenant, and 1 captain.  Sea Bright is looking to fill the position of police chief to replace the retired John Sorrentino. 

UPDATED:

TFoTM can confirm that that Sea Bright is moving in a different direction and will not be hiring discraced ex-Westfield Police Chief David Wayman as their police chief. 

What Happened There, Happened Here......Revenge on The Whistleblower

When a police officer crosses the proverbial “thin blue line” to report corruption in his/her police department, they often face retaliation in the form of denied overtime, reassignment to a less desirable assignment, and false departmental charges all in an effort to silence the whistleblower.
What happened elsewhere has happened in Westfield and the taxpayers are left to pay the cost of lawsuits and frivolous disciplinary action against the officer......the whistleblower.
Whether it’s in the form of a paid suspension, departmental hearings also known as “kangaroo court,” or through settlements with the police officer, the residing taxpayers of the police department patrolling the streets of their town, are left on the hook for damages.
What happened in the town chronicled in the story below (tap on link), has happened in Westfield.....not once......but multiple times.
Whose to blame?  The rouge police chief or a town’s administration that is forced to defend the actions of a corrupt department head and his penchant for revenge?

https://www.app.com/story/news/local/courts/2018/09/26/manalapan-police-chief-lawsuit-whistle-blower-new-jersey/1410275002/

Westfield Police Lieutenant Leonard Lugo Demoted to Sergeant

Westfield police Lieutenant Leonard Lugo has been demoted in rank to patrol sergeant in the wake of a Union County Prosecutors Office investigation into his involvement in alleged police corruption and misconduct including authoring reports that covered up disgraced ex-police Chief David Wayman’s hit and run accident that occurred in March of 2018.  Wayman resigned on August 1, 2018 during the UCPO investigation.  (See previous TFoTM blog coverage)
Lugo’s demotion stems from disciplinary action against him for his misconduct.

Westfield Dumps TAPintoWestfield as an Official Internet News Site

Jaqueline “Jackie” Lieberman

On Thursday night, at the annual Westfield Town Council reorganization meeting, Mayor Shelley Brindle announced that the town’s official news sources are The Westfield Leader and the Star Ledger, dumping Jackie Lieberman’s TAPintoWestfield.

New Jersey Advanced Media, which owns the Star Ledger generates 70 million pageviews per month which dwarfs TAPintoWestfield’s 2.3 million annual pageviews. 

The decision not to rename TAPintoWestfield, Jackie Lieberman’s online advertising site containing local stories, as an official Westfield news source, has riled a few supporters including another owner/editor of a TAPinto franchise. 

Elizabeth Parascandola-Clee, otherwise known as “Elizabeth PC” in numerous Facebook groups, is the co-owner/editor of the TAPintoClark franchise.  Her recent comments attached to a TAPintoWestfield Facebook post by Jackie Lieberman, that announced the change, attacks Mayor Brindle’s decision not to name Lieberman’s internet “ad agency” and news site as one of Westfield’s official news sources.  

Scotch Plains resident and TAPintoWestfield franchise owner/editor Jackie Lieberman is the administrator of the Westfield NJ and TAPintoWestfield Facebook groups that has routinely censored content including comments made by group members and has gone as far as to ban group members she disagrees with that have exercised freedom of speech. 

Christopher Battiloro Sworn In as Westfield Police Chief

A standing room only crowd saw Mayor Shelley Brindle administer the oath of office to Christopher Battiloro as he became the Westfield police department’s tenth police chief since the department was established in 1902.
Chief C. Battiloro is the son of former Westfield Fire Chief Paul Battiloro.
Photo credit to Town of Westfield