Jersey City Police Department (JCPD) officers who consumed cannabis are continuing their fight for full reinstatement in court against Mayor James Solmon’s Administration.
Table of Contents
The officers initially filed the lawsuit against former Mayor Steve Fulop and his Administration. Despite losing several times in court on both the local and federal level, the Fulop Administration refused to reinstate the officers fully.
JCPD and Cannabis Consumption
The Solomon Administration has largely continued the policy. Thus, the suit has now been amended to include Solomon and his new Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose, along with several others kept anonymous as John and Jane Does.
According to an amended complaint filed by a lawyer for the officers, “Mayor Solomon promised reform and transparency, but both he and Director Ambrose adopted, countenanced, and implemented Mayor Fulop, Public Safety Director Shea, and Chief Kearns’ ill-advised and taxpayer-costly anti-cannabis police policy that has failed at every turn.”
“…. Under the direction and oversight of Mayor Solomon and Director Ambrose, on January 30, 2026, Chief of Police Kearns issued an order … to move Plaintiffs to the Central Communication Bureau to be dispatchers together with numerous other police officers who have been accused or found guilty of misconduct.”
“Rather than allowing Plaintiffs to return to qualify for the range and return to work as a police officer, Defendants required Plaintiffs to complete a series of unnecessary, recruit-level training sessions that had no relation to their experience as veteran police officers.”
“Instead, Defendants created a ridiculous training program only for the Plaintiffs. No other officer was required to complete Defendants’ “training” program. Plaintiff watched officers who were on modified duty for years for DWI and being psychologically unfit allowed to qualify and return to duty in days without undergoing Defendants’ “concocted” training program.”
“On February 2, 2026, Officer Mansour’s counsel had specifically notified the Defendants’ Corporation Counsel, Sarah Levine, of the continuing severe and pervasive abuse and retaliation against Officer Mansour. Corporation Counsel Levine failed to respond for over a month, took no action to stop the harassment, and instead retained outside counsel.”
Norhan Mansour, Omar Polanco, and Mackenzie Reilly were JCPD officers who wanted to be reinstated after consuming cannabis and being punished.
They initially sued the City, Fulop, and the Public Safety Director James Shea, among others. Lawyers for the defendants tried multiple times unsuccessfully to get the lawsuit dismissed.
According to an amended complaint filed by the lawyer for the officers, “the plaintiffs prevailed in their appeals before the Office of Administrative Law and the Civil Service Commission, but Defendants refused to obey the lawful orders of Administrative Law Judges and the Civil Service Commission to reinstate them to employment. Defendants purposefully violated these court orders for over a year.”
Solomon’s Chief of Staff Laura Bustamante refused to comment on the situation. The Communications Director Nathaniel Styer recently left his position, so she has taken over communications for now.
So, the lawsuit remains ongoing in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Essex County.
Jersey City Cannabis Issues
Fulop allowed a great number of dispensaries and smoke shops to open and sell weed. He did not seem to mind that many were too close to each other. At the same time, he was passionately against the right of cops to consume cannabis.
In addition, a lawsuit alleging Fulop’s direct involvement in the shady Story Dispensary in Hoboken remains ongoing.
Since taking office, Solomon has restarted and switched up Cannabis Control Board (CCB) appointments, while a few new applications have been approved after the board went defunct as Fulop ran for Governor and came in 3rd place in the June 2026 Democratic primary.
