County prosecutor to oversee Fanwood Police Department after departure of chief following alleged racist comments

The Union County Prosecutor's Office will be temporarily overseeing the Fanwood Police Department following the departure of Chief Richard Trigo, who stepped down following racist comments he allegedly made about other state law makers.

News 12 Staff

Jul 14, 2020, 3:19 PM

Updated 1,601 days ago

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The Union County Prosecutor's Office will be temporarily overseeing the Fanwood Police Department following the departure of Chief Richard Trigo, who stepped down following racist comments he allegedly made about other state law makers.
Trigo announced on Friday that he would be stepping down.
The announcement came as Trigo was facing criticism for racial and sexist comments he allegedly made regarding the former Union County prosecutor and the current New Jersey attorney general.
A recording posted on YouTube titled "Fanwood Exposed" appears to show Trigo making derogatory comments about former Prosecutor Grace Park's looks and commenting on Attorney General Gurbir Grewal's turban. Grewal is the state's first Sikh attorney general.
Census data shows the town has a population of about 8,000 -- almost 87% of the population is white. A lot of residents didn't want to comment, but people who did were disappointed by the alleged comments.
"It is regrettable," says Victor Arriaran. "It is concerning, from a chain of command perspective, hopefully it's not reflective of the rest of the departments culture. I don't think it is there's always good people and every system."
Acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo appointed Capt. Kevin Grimmer of her office to serve as the officer in charge of the Fanwood Police Department.
The Associated Press wire services contributed to this report.