By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
LAMBERTVILLE — A court case that pits Lambertville’s civilian police director against the highest ranking officer in the department has sparked the city to take steps to shore up the civilian director’s authority.
The goal is to avoid another legal battle similar to the protracted one Lambertville now finds itself in with Sgt. 1st Class Michael O’Rourke.
Mayor David Del Vecchio said he has directed Police Director Bruce Cocuzza and City Attorney Philip Faherty “to go through the ordinances to see if there is something we need to change to make this a nonissue.”
A state appellate court in an Oct. 31 ruling failed to uphold the city’s firing of Sgt. O’Rourke for insubordination and failure to obey a direct order issued by Mr. Cocuzza. The Appellate Division of Superior Court said the internal affairs investigation conducted by Mr. Cocuzza was flawed.
The city intends to appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Mayor Del Vecchio said, “Obviously, there is a law in New Jersey that allows a police director, and we have one that created the position, and we gave him the authority to run the department. Now we need to make sure there are not any rules or regulations that conflict with the director running the department clearly as a civilian police director.”
Questions remain as to whether it’s possible to beef up the civilian position, but answers may take some time.
”That’s what we’re going to take a look at,” Mayor Del Vecchio said. “We need to make certain there are as little gray areas as possible in regard to his authority. Clearly, he doesn’t have police powers. That’s been established. Beyond that, we want to make certain for the future there is as little confusion as possible.”
As the highest ranking officer in the Lambertville Police Department, Sgt. O’Rourke said he conducted background checks on five of the department’s civilian employees, including his boss, Mr. Cocuzza.
During an administrative hearing before the mayor and the City Council, he maintained he did not need Mr. Cocuzza’s authorization to do so, and he conducted the checks despite a direct order from Mr. Cocuzza to hold off.
Mr. Cocuzza testified during the same administrative hearing in 2007 that he wanted first to determine through the state police or the city’s attorney if the probes would violate the employees’ privacy rights and put the city at risk.
The city’s administrative hearing began in January 2007 and concluded three months later with the firing of Sgt. O’Rourke. He appealed April 20, and four months later, a Superior Court judge ordered Sgt. O’Rourke’s reinstatement. The Appellate Division upheld the reinstatement with an opinion rendered Oct. 31.

