Police officials say Hoboken?s former police chief is retiring amid a scandal, but he will still benefit from a hefty severance payout at taxpayers? expense.

Carmen LaBruno will walk away from the Hoboken Police Department with $125,000 in vacation time and $150,000 as a termination bonus, on top of his annual pension of $147,000.

Although lawmakers passed a bill last year capping unused sick and vacation time for government employees at $15,000, LaBruno was grandfathered in.

LaBruno resigned this past November when pictures of him posing with waitresses from an Alabama Hooters restaurant were made public. The pictures showed him and members of his S.W.A.T. team posing with the waitresses holding rifles. The police officers were on their way back from assisting in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

The Internal Affairs investigation recently revealed that the former police chief allowed S.W.A.T. team commander Lt. Angelo Andriani to keep the S.W.A.T. bus at his Verona home and work from there along with members of the S.W.A.T. team.

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