Photos of a Maywood police officer dressed in the traditional style of an Orthodox Jewish man prompted an internal investigation and led officials in Rochelle Park, where the officer is a firefighter, to require anti-harassment training for all township volunteers.
Rochelle Park officials say Pete Donatello III has been disciplined by the fire department for wearing the costume, which included a yarmulke and a traditional hairstyle of sidecurls, or payot. But it remains unclear how, as township officials have either declined to comment or said they didn’t know exactly how the fire chief has handled it.
The incident, some details of which were first made public in March, comes as the nation grapples with how to address high-profile instances of racial insensitivity, like the scandal that swirled around Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam earlier this year after allegations that he appeared in blackface in a 1980s college yearbook photo. Northam initially apologized but has since denied he was in the photo.