The Cops Forced to Retire Over Cheating Scandal

Three Port Authority cops forced to retire over cheating scandal 
The New York Post by Josh Margolin  -  May 16, 2012

Heads are rolling at the Port Authority Police Department in the wake of an exam cheating scandal involving the highest-ranking cop in the Internal Affairs bureau, The Post has learned. Three of the top cops at the PA -- including a deputy chief -- were forced to retire today because they took no action when told of the cheating last year, a PA source said. Another deputy chief had secretly turned in his retirement papers just days before The Post broke the news of the scandal two weeks ago. In addition, the PA's top management moved the police department's IA unit out of the police department and under the authority of the Inspector General, who is responsible for ferretting out mismanagement, fraud and waste inside the sprawling agency that runs the airports, Hudson River crossings and World Trade Center. "This is the unraveling of the top echelon at the PAPD," the source said. "There's going to be a big change." The PA's top cop, Superintendent Michael Fedorko, remains in his post but he will come under the supervision of a new chief of security. The PA is going to start the process of hiring that security chief by the end of the week. On May 2, PA officials fired Capt. John Ferrigno, 49, for copying questions on the oral portion of a promotiion test from last June and trying to share them with his pals. He took a picture of the questions with his cellphone before sending them, both breaches of department rules and possible violations of state and federal laws.