A state Attorney General’s Office report on law enforcement throughout the state showed no major disciplinary problems at IPD in 2023 and 2024.
The Irvington Police Department went a second year without a major disciplinary action taken against an officer.
Information detailing major disciplinary actions taken by New Jersey law enforcement agencies against officers in 2024 was released this month by the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Justice Data (OJD).
“The vast majority of New Jersey’s law enforcement officers show up to work each day and risk their own safety to help and protect others and to serve their communities. They conduct themselves with honor and courage in the face of trying circumstances and dangerous situations. Publicly releasing this data about the handling of disciplinary matters helps maintain the public’s trust in those dedicated, hardworking men and women of law enforcement,” said Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. “My office is committed to improving transparency and building confidence in government, and providing this data is part of that mission.”
According to that data, in the 2024 reporting year there were 644 major discipline actions taken by 172 agencies against 543 officers statewide. The most frequently occurring offense, as indicated in the summaries submitted by the agencies, were related to attendance, including lateness and call-outs too close to the start of a shift.
In Essex County, five officers were terminated in 2024 over disciplinary issues while 29 were suspended and two resigned: Newark had nine cases, Orange had three and South Orange and West Orange had one each. Bloomfield, East Orange, Glen Ridge, Irvington, Maplewood and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office had no cases resulting in major disciplinary action.
Irvington also had no cases in 2023. The last major disciplinary action taken against an officer in Irvington was in 2022 as a result of actions undertaken by that officer in 2021. The officer engaged in chronic or excessive absenteeism during 2021, by utilizing approximately 60 sick days. The officer also failed to obey a written order issued by the Office of Internal Affairs requesting case disposition of an outstanding motor vehicle summons that had been issued in his name in 2021. The officer was suspended for 18 days.
The Orange Police Department suspended three officers in 2024, which was up from 2023 when only one suspension was reported.
Two of the suspensions resulted from a prisoner escaping custody while in the hospital.
On March 16, an officer was guarding a prisoner at a hospital when he allowed the prisoner to go with hospital staff, uncuffed. The prisoner subsequently escaped. The officer also failed to activate his body-worn camera during the search. The officer received a 30 day suspension. Another officer was suspended for 10 days for the same March 16, 2024 infractions.
A third OPD officer was suspended for 45 days for conduct unbecoming a public employee for failing to report a motor vehicle accident that he was involved in while off-duty. The officer left the scene of the accident and was issued motor vehicle summonses for failure to report an accident and reckless driving.
In 2024, a South Orange officer was suspended for four days for accessing the communications room desk commander’s computer in the commander’s absence when he had no duty, reason or permission to do so.
A West Orange police officer was suspended 10 days for conduct unbecoming after an accident that took place on Oct. 14, 2023. The officer was involved in an on-duty motor vehicle crash while operating a marked patrol unit. The officer was found to be at fault and a supervisory review of the incident uncovered several issues with the officer’s actions.
An Internal Affairs investigation ultimately determined that the officer did not take appropriate action(s) or follow proper procedure after the crash.
More specifically, the officer failed to notify the communications center or check the welfare of the other parties involved in a timely manner. Additionally, the officer violated the department’s Body Worn Camera Directive by pre-maturely deactivating his body worn camera prior to the conclusion of the incident as required.
Cases reported across the state included not providing proper services to a sexual assault victim (suspended 120 days), creating a hostile work environment by making racially charged jokes (10 day suspension) taking money from an account that belonged to a police youth academy without authorization (terminated), and being arrested for assault (terminated).
Available on the Attorney General’s website, the major discipline report, major discipline dashboard, and the internal affairs dashboard provide data regarding officers who were suspended for more than five days, demoted, or terminated, along with data on officers found guilty of certain internal affairs violations.
The sharing of this information is part of efforts by the Attorney General’s Office to increase access to information on police discipline and use of force.
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