Maywood cop, who is also a firefighter, photographed in Orthodox Jewish yarmulke

Photos of a Maywood police officer dressed in the traditional style of an Orthodox Jewish man prompted an internal investigation and led officials in Rochelle Park, where the officer is a firefighter, to require anti-harassment training for all township volunteers.

Rochelle Park officials say Pete Donatello III has been disciplined by the fire department for wearing a yarmulke and a traditional hairstyle of sidecurls, or payot, during a party at the township firehouse. But it remains unclear how Donatello was punished, as township officials have either declined to comment or said they didn’t know exactly how the fire chief has handled it.

The incident, some details of which were first made public in March, comes as the nation grapples with how to address high-profile instances of racial insensitivity, like the scandal that swirled around Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam earlier this year after allegations that he appeared in blackface in a 1980s college yearbook photo. Northam initially apologized but has since denied he was in the photo. 

Bergen County dealt with similar instances of religious or ethnic insensitivity in recent years, like Mahwah’s 2017 attempt to ban out-of-state residents from its parks. The law was widely seen as aimed at the Orthodox Jewish community in neighboring Rockland County, New York, and later repealed. Mahwah's attempt to ban eruvs, or religious borders used by the Orthodox community, met a similar fate. 

In Palisades Park, an anti-Korean sentiment tinged the mayor's race last year. Italian Americans recently protested Glen Rock's now-abandoned proposal to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day. And several schools throughout Bergen County have dealt with racist and antisemitic graffiti this year.

An anonymous person sent the photos of Donatello to the Rochelle Park committee earlier this year. Accompanying them was a letter, written by the sender, that claimed they were deeply upset by the Dec. 29, 2018 incident.

That night, there was a going-away party for a firefighter who was moving out of state, the letter read. And Donatello, then the fire chief, "decided that it would be funny to wear a make-shift Yamaka (sic) and parade around the Firehouse with it on and make fun of the Jewish Faith," according to the letter. Others at the party were not in costume. 

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The letter writer, who claimed to have Jewish relatives, said photos of Donatello ended up on Facebook. 

"It's bad enough to parade around a building, but to put it out for the Public to fully see is another issue," the letter said. "This gentleman being a Fire Chief and more importantly a Police Officer should have known better with what he was doing." 

Capt. Terence Kenny, of the Maywood police, acknowledged the police brass saw the photos and turned them over to the internal affairs unit. He declined to discuss the matter further.

Adrian Febre, Maywood’s mayor, did not respond to requests for comment. 

Donatello has been a Maywood police officer since 2012. And he is still a member of the Rochelle Park fire department, which is a quasi-public organization that functions independently even though it’s still governed by local statutes and funded by taxpayer money. How Jason Brown, Rochelle Park’s fire chief, disciplined Donatello is still unknown. Brown did not respond to requests for comment, and Donatello could not be reached.

Robert Davidson, Rochelle Park’s administrator, declined to detail how the department punished Donatello. Instead, he referred questions to Joseph Rotolo, the town attorney.

Rotolo would not answer when asked if the committee considered removing Donatello from the department, but said he advised officials to let the fire chief decide what disciplinary actions were appropriate. He did not know specifics, he said.

"We felt it was something that should be handled at that level," Rotolo said. "We believe they are addressing their own issues within their own shop."

In response to the incident, the township mandated all volunteers attend an hour-long sensitivity and anti-harassment training session hosted by its insurance company, according to Davidson. About 85 of the township’s 100 volunteers have already gone, although Donatello has not, he said. But Donatello will have one more chance at a session scheduled for June.

Mayor Michael Kazimir, a Republican who is running for state General Assembly in the 38th Legislative District, said the township is keeping track of who attends.

“We’re going to make sure they get it done,” Kazimir said Friday. “We’d like to have them all trained.”

There was immediate pushback from first responders when the township first announced it was mandating the course. It was spearheaded by Pete Donatello Jr., Rochelle Park’s emergency management coordinator and Donatello III’s father, as well as Brown, the fire chief, and Ben Varghese, the medical service captain.

The three sent their own letter to the committee, dated March 7, claiming officials were singling out emergency services. And it accused Deputy Mayor Linda Boniface — an official with whom Donatello Jr. has frequently quarreled — of leaking confidential information about personnel and closed session discussions. The town should address that before worrying about its volunteers, the letter said. 

“Until such time, please make no mistake the mandatory training request will not be communicated to any of the emergency services volunteers within our command,” the letter read.  

At a Township Committee meeting later that month, Kazimir told the public that the committee was simply trying to protect Rochelle Park from a future lawsuit. He pointed to the Donatello photos, as well as another incident in which a picture of a former fire chief was defaced, as the drivers behind the decision. 

“This is the same training that’s required of all our employees and elected officials,” Kazimir said March 13. “I’m certain that most members of these organizations do not object to this training.”

Kazimir also said he wasn't aware that Boniface had ever leaked information.

Boniface denied on Wednesday sharing any confidential information. And she called Donatello's conduct an "absolute disgrace on the town." She declined to comment on how the fire department disciplined Donatello, but said she would have preferred he be removed altogether.

"It's bad," she said. "He should know better at his age, and it's not a joke today." 

But Kazimir said he wasn’t sure the committee could remove Donatello without going through the disciplinary process outlined by its ordinance. This involves the fire chief forming a panel to give the firefighter a “trial,” so to speak, and sending its findings to the committee. Only then can the committee act, he said.

“As far as I understand it … there is no further action we can take at this point,” Kazimir said.

Other committee members did not respond to requests for comment.

The emergency services leaders eventually backed down on their letter's demand, though it's unclear why. Donatello Jr. could not be reached for comment. Varghese declined to comment. 

Davidson, the administrator, said the township wants to conduct the anti-harassment training at least every other year.

"A lot of times people think they're just volunteers, and they just don't understand all the responsibilities that go with that," Davidson said. "They just don't understand the gravity of the fact that they still represent the town." 

Email: janoski@northjersey.com