Veteran cop sues Paterson, police department

A white Paterson police officer is suing the city and Police Department on charges that he is a victim of racial discrimination.

Officer David Hopper, a 23-year veteran of the force, claims in his federal civil rights suit that, during his tenure as a juvenile division detective, he was “subjected to a regular and pervasive hostile work environment because of his Caucasian race.”

Detective Michael Howe, who is black and who is named as a defendant in the civil suit, allegedly told Hopper that he could not sit on one side of the division’s office because “this side is only for brothers, and you ain’t no brother.”

The civil suit claims that Hopper’s complaints about alleged racism in the department were repeatedly ignored by his commander, Lt. Calvin Swann, who is also black and named as a defendant in the case, and that Howe allegedly said he would use his political connections to avoid trouble.

Lastly, the suit claims that Hopper was punished for speaking out. Two months after he filed formal complaints about alleged racial abuse, Hopper was transferred from the juvenile division to an overnight shift in the Paterson cell block, according to the civil suit.

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Veteran cop sues Paterson, police department
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