A Palisades Park police officer has lost his job after being charged with lying under oath during a county investigation into his conduct. Cory J. Havens, 32, of the Vauxhall section of Union, was terminated from his position following a Bergen County Prosecutor's Office investigation that led to a fourth-degree false swearing charge in February 2026.
Havens was a sworn officer with the Palisades Park Police Department at the time of his arrest, according to NJ.com. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said Havens was facing the charge over allegations that he lied to detectives while under oath, though authorities did not say what detectives were questioning him about at the time. Borough spokeswoman Sara Rossi told the outlet that Palisades Park terminated Havens's employment following the investigation, but said the borough could offer no further comment because it was a personnel matter.
The termination was formalized through a resolution the Palisades Park Borough Council listed on its agenda for its August 25 meeting, per the same account. Minutes from that meeting have not been released, and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office has not provided an update on the status of the criminal case against Havens.
How the Case Reached County Investigators
The investigation into Havens was carried out by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Confidential Investigations Unit under Chief Jeff Angermeyer, after the Palisades Park Police Department formally referred the matter to county prosecutors in February 2026, according to RLS Media. That referral meant local police did not handle the criminal inquiry into one of their own internally, instead handing it off to county detectives.
Before the false swearing charge was filed, Havens had been under administrative investigation for separate allegations of inappropriate conduct within the department, Daily Voice reports. It was during questioning tied to that underlying probe that detectives allege Havens made false statements under oath. Havens was arrested in Hackensack on February 3, 2026, and was released from custody pending a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court, according to the same outlet.
What the Charge Carries Under State Law
False swearing is classified as a fourth-degree crime under New Jersey Statute N.J.S.A. 2C:28-2 when a person knowingly makes a false statement under oath that they do not believe to be true, according to Justia Law. Unlike perjury, false swearing does not require prosecutors to prove the statement was material to the outcome of a proceeding.
A fourth-degree conviction in New Jersey carries statutory penalties of up to 18 months in state prison and a maximum fine of $10,000, per Bergen County Criminal Lawyers. Beyond potential prison time, New Jersey's Forfeiture Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2, dictates that any public employee or police officer convicted of an offense involving dishonesty or touching their official duties automatically forfeits their position and faces a permanent ban from future public employment in the state, according to Justia Law.
A Department With a History of Costly Internal Strife
Havens's firing is not an isolated event for the small Bergen County department. The Borough of Palisades Park accumulated more than $3 million in police-related lawsuit payouts over a five-year span prior to April 2025, driven largely by internal departmental disputes and promotional retaliation claims, according to The Ridgewood Blog. That included $275,000 in settlements approved for two sergeants in early 2025 alone.
Palisades Park also terminated officer David Chun in April 2026 after he received a four-year state prison sentence stemming from a separate Bergen County prosecutor investigation into domestic violence and child endangerment charges, The Ridgewood Blog reported. And the borough's willingness to fire officers over dishonesty during internal inquiries stretches back over a decade: in March 2014, a New Jersey appellate court affirmed Palisades Park's termination of officer Charles Stark for unbecoming conduct after he gave false answers during an internal affairs investigation.
State internal affairs directives require agencies to accept misconduct complaints from any source while keeping sustained administrative findings confidential unless they result in formal criminal charges or public municipal resolutions, according to the Palisades Park Police Department's own policy. That framework explains why Rossi cited personnel confidentiality rules in declining to elaborate on the specifics behind Havens's termination, even as the criminal case against him remains pending in Bergen County Superior Court.
