Lawsuit: Long Island Cops Demoted Because They Supported Republicans

Six veteran Long Island police officers are charging they were targeted for overtime cuts, put on overnight shifts and demoted by a Democratic police commissioner because they supported Republican candidates in local elections and have filed a $39 million lawsuit against the city of Long Beach, according to the New York Post.

The officers, according to the Post, said in the lawsuit that Long Beach Police Commissioner and longtime Democrat Michael Tangney “demoted them, cut their overtime, switched them to midnight tours and even filed false internal charges against them for ‘political payback.’”

The officers -- James Canner, 44; Karl Hayes, 42; James McCormack, 55; John Radin, 53; Benjamin Tayne, 47; and Jose Miguez, 39 -- said they reached out to their union but were shunned by its president at the time, who is a Democrat.

The then-president, Stefan Chernaski, filed a $27.5 million harassment claim against the former Republican administration for the city, and settled for $25,000, and a $20,000 raise along with two promotions when Democrats came into power, according to the Post.

Eric Rothstein, lawyer for the six officers, told the Post, “Politics doesn’t belong in the police department.” The city called the allegations “false” and “frivolous.”