Lawsuits.

For YEARS now, the borough of Pompton Lakes has allowed two particular individuals to operate with impunity: recently retired Police Chief Derek Clark, who began terminal leave in July 2025, and his (sometimes) second-in-command (and longstanding-lackey) current Police Chief Anthony Rodriguez. Clark’s rushed and suspicious retirement plan, different from what had been printed in his contract and agreed upon by the council just months earlier, remains shrouded in rumor— why was Clark’s early retirement so hush-hush? And why did his sidekick, newbie second Captain Anthony Rodriguez, retain massive mayor and council support for the OIC-to-Chief pipeline, when Rodriguez was neither the more qualified captain’s candidate, nor had he tested for the chief’s position? Why would the council ignore public concern, financial problems, and reports of threats to citizens made by Chief Anthony Rodriguez? And why, above all of this, would Clark and Rodriguez retain absolute and unwavering trust of the Pompton Lakes Borough Council when two big police department whistleblower tort claims leveraged serious accusations against both men? How could the council, in theory committed to civic duty, fidelity to the taxpayer, and supposed loyalty to their own police department, permit Derek Clark and Anthony Rodriguez to continue doing whatever they wished, to whomever they wished, at whatever literal legal cost to the borough of Pompton Lakes?