BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Reports are indicating that Hackensack’s interim police chief is being well compensated after his February 1 retirement.

Twenty-five year police force veteran Tomas Padilla will be receiving a package of $148,596 in compensatory days to go along with his yearly pension.

NorthJersey.com reported that Padilla’s payout came from 236 leftover sick days, 50 vacation days that were not used, and 130 hours of compensatory time. Padilla also receives an annual pension of $118,858 per year.

According to NJ.com, Padilla became Hackensack’s interim police chief in May 2012 after longtime head Charles "Ken" Zisa was convicted on official misconduct and insurance fraud charges.

Zisa was sentenced to five years in prison, but is free on bail pending appeal.

Critics called Padilla a legal liability for Hackensack because he had been a co-defendant with Zisa in three civil lawsuits filed by more than 20 current and former department police officers during Zisa’s final years, according to NorthJersey.com.

Padilla was dropped from one lawsuit, and the others were settled, according to NorthJersey.com. Zisa is a former assemblyman, and Padilla was once a freeholder, and the lawsuits had alleged that the two used their positions as police chief against officers who did not back their political campaigns.

“I think he’s done an excellent job in the short time he’s been in charge of the department,” City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono said, according to NorthJersey.com. “In spite of all this obvious turmoil, he’s been able to accomplish some significant things.”

Michael Mordaga, Hackensack’s first civilian police director, replaced Padilla.