Snoozing Trenton police officer suspended

Officials have suspended a police officer in New Jersey’s capital city after a photo of him asleep in his patrol car was posted online.

The photo of Trenton Police Officer Richard Takach was taken by a passerby.

City Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr. tells The Trentonian newspaper having a sleeping officer in uniform, in a patrol car and carrying a gun is “dangerous to the city whether the officer is working or not.”

 

Takach’s lawyer, Stuart Alterman, tells the newspaper the 12-year veteran of the force was “not on city time” and needs to work additional hours because of living expenses.

Private companies pay the city to hire officers who want to increase their salaries.