Yeadon’s former police chief sues, saying he was fired because he’s white

Yeadon’s former police chief has filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit, saying the borough council fired him because of his race.

Lawyers for Anthony “Chachi” Paparo said in the suit, filed Monday, that four members of Yeadon Borough Council — Sharon Council-Harris, Learin Johnson, Tomeka Jones-Waters, and Carlette Brooks — “plotted and conspired” against him. They wanted to replace Paparo, who is white, with a Black police chief, the lawsuit says, ignoring the accomplishments of his four-year tenure and the public support for his stewardship of the department.

The suit seeks compensation for lost wages, damages, and Paparo’s reinstatement as chief.

A spokesperson for the borough council members declined to comment Monday.

Paparo was fired during a borough council meeting Feb. 17 by a 4-3 vote without being allowed to testify or present witnesses on his behalf, according to the lawsuit. That decision came after weeks of controversy in Yeadon and an online petition from his supporters that gathered more than 1,000 signatures.

“It was a sham proceeding, the votes to fire him already cast and known beforehand,” Howard Goodman, Paparo’s attorney, wrote in the suit. “Moreover, it occurred among false and defamatory charges that Chief Paparo was guilty of money mismanagement and wage theft in connection with the Borough’s collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police.”

The council members named in the suit have said Paparo was fired because the town had to pay $387,000 to settle a grievance filed by the local police union after he hired more part-time police officers than the union contract allowed. Paparo has defended that decision, saying the police force was short-staffed in 2019 and 2020 due to COVID-19 and faced challenges because of civil unrest after the police killing of George Floyd.

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The suit says council members who voted to remove Paparo had long set their sights on doing so. The three council members who voted to keep Paparo, as well as Mayor Rohan Hepkins, have said their colleagues spoke openly with them about their belief that Yeadon “needs a Black police chief.”

The borough of about 11,500 residents bordering Southwest Philadelphia is 90% Black, according to census data.

Council-Harris, Johnson, Jones-Waters, and Brooks discussed the need for a Black chief at several informal meetings, at one point floating the idea of hiring Jonathan Josey, a Philadelphia Police officer who was accused of punching a woman in the face during the Puerto Rican Day Parade in 2012, according to the lawsuit. Josey was later acquitted of any wrongdoing.

The group eventually decided to contact Ferdie Ingram, one of Paparo’s subordinates, asking if he would be interested in taking over the top position. Ingram was not next in line to become chief, the lawsuit said.

Ingram, who is Black, notified Paparo, the suit says, sparking the petition to save his job.

“In addition to the loss of his job and the wages he would have earned as Yeadon’s Chief of Police, plaintiff Paparo has suffered irreparable harm to his unblemished reputation for honesty and integrity, reputation built over the 37 years he has served as a law enforcement officer,” the lawsuit said.

“That reputation, so consistently built and reinforced was taken away in the flash of a 4-3 vote based on the false premise, lacking in any due process, that he was guilty of money mismanagement and wage theft, a scar from which he cannot recover.”