Everyone wanted to know what kind of dirt they could find on the website called NorthBergenPD.com, which was conceived and updated regularly by former township police officer Tom Rowan.
It began with Rowan, who was terminated as a police officer after a highly controversial incident in 1995, telling "Tales of Misconduct" about the North Bergen police department. It grew to the point where thousands of people regularly visited the site for insider information, rumors, gossip, scandal and scurrilous comments.
But now, after a contentious legal battle, Rowan has given up the fight. He's pulled the plug on his website - this time for good - handing over the domain rights of NorthBergenPD.com to the North Bergen police department. He made the move to discontinue the website Monday afternoon.
Rowan says that his reasoning behind ending his website management was that his fiercest foe, former Police Chief Angelo Busacco, has retired, handing over the reins of the department to new Chief William Galvin.
"From what my friends tell me, Bill Galvin has already turned the entire department around 180 degrees since he took over," said Rowan, who now works in the communications department for the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey. "Everything I hear is positive. He's turned the morale of the entire department around. Once I saw that and that the other guy is gone, then I knew it was time for me to walk away."
Busacco retired in May, but has since been named the township's civilian public safety director.
Lawsuit Last year, the township filed a lawsuit against Rowan, saying that Rowan was giving a false impression with that NorthBergenPD.com domain name, while also creating a possible security problem by broadcasting live police radio transmissions. This was after several attempts by township officials to have the website shut down, albeit to no avail.
"The lawsuit against me is done and I have no further issues with the town," Rowan said. "The domain name is theirs. The live broadcast is gone. I have no concerns in the legal matters against the township of North Bergen. It's theirs. They own everything."
However, according to township attorney Herb Klitzner, Rowan really didn't have a legal leg to stand on.
"He lost," Klitzner said. "He was in default. He refused to make discovery and in the process of getting the case settled, he had to turn over the domain name. He's already done that. Now, when people on the web go to NorthBergenPd.com, they're going to get the real police department. I can't begin to speculate what his motives were for shutting down the site, but he had lost his case."
Rowan said that he can't even begin to count how many hours he spent working on the site, which reached a high of more than 500,000 hits in October of 2004.
"I wouldn't even have a clue," Rowan said. "I spent two months short of eight years on that site. That's a lot of time involved. I think I opened a lot of eyes and ruffled a lot of feathers."
Rowan first discontinued the site for a few weeks when the case was being litigated earlier this year, then brought it back. But this time, it's officially history.
Gone for good "I talked to a few people recently who said that they were going to be disappointed that the site was gone," Rowan said. "They said that it kept the entire police department in check, even public officials. People knew not to do anything wrong, because they just might end up on the website. Looking back at it, I think I was able to pull Busacco's pants down and let the world see exactly what he was all about."
Busacco has said on the record that Rowan is nothing more than "a bad cop and now he's a janitor."
Needless to say, that's a blood feud.
Rowan started a clock last year that was ticking down to Busacco's 65th birthday and the day of his mandatory retirement, which has now come and gone.
"He's gone now, so it doesn't matter," Rowan said. "Personally, I think Billy Galvin is a decent guy. I have 100 percent faith that he will do the right things and take the department to where it should have been over the last 20 years."
Rowan added, "I'm moving on with my life. I have better things to do. I am washing my hands of all of that crap. There's a sense of relief."
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