Officer to face discipline over pot joke

CRESSKILL, N.J., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A New Jersey police department said an officer will face discipline for a 5-year-old photo of him smoking a fake marijuana joint in uniform.

The Cresskill Police Department said Detective Lt. Joseph Trumbetti will keep his job but will face disciplinary action over a photograph of the officer smoking an imitation marijuana cigarette as a joke at the Battle of the Bands Concert at Cresskill's recreation center five years ago, The (Woodland Park) Record reported Tuesday.

"There was no traces of drugs -- there was nothing illegal," Chief Edward Wrixon said. However, "he shouldn't have been doing that in uniform."

The picture was given to police recently by Gregory Levitzki of Dumont, father of former officer Brad Levitzki, who was fired in June after a hearing officer found him guilty of six charges of misconduct on duty.

Al Wunch, the attorney representing Brad Levitzki, said the photo was evidence of hypocrisy on the part of the department.

"The hearing officer made a big deal about a photograph that Brad had put on a computer screen in the police station," he said. "The charge against Brad was that this was a pornographic photograph. But I said that there's all these types of photos that are far worse throughout the department and nobody makes a big deal about them. The Trumbetti one was just one of them."