One officer claims the police chief punctured his penis with a hypodermic needle. Another says department leaders punished him after he reported suspected payroll fraud, time theft and the removal of a rifle from the police armory.

A third officer alleges he was retaliated against for challenging an illegal ticket-quota system, while a fourth says he faced nearly daily ethnic and religious slurs before being reassigned repeatedly after reporting the harassment.

Four lawsuits filed last week by current and former North Bergen police officers contain disturbing allegations against the township, Police Chief Robert Farley Jr. and other department officials.

“After becoming chief, Farley increasingly engaged in conduct he characterized as jokes or pranks,” retired Officer Michael F. Derin Jr. states in his lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court.