TRENTON, NJ — Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin made a wealth of information about police agencies’ internal affairs investigations available online on Sept. 7 in a searchable dashboard capable of filtering data by law enforcement agency, the types of allegations involved, and what, if any, disciplinary action was taken. It is believed to be the most comprehensive compilation of statewide internal affairs information to be made accessible to the public by any state in the United States, according to the N.J. Attorney General’s Office.
The Office of Public Integrity & Accountability believes the dashboard will serve as a tool for both law enforcement and the public, revealing the prevalence of various accusations, where they are surfacing and how they are being dealt with by the internal affairs review process.
The dashboard, available at njoag.gov/iapp, represents an unprecedented and ambitious effort by the Attorney General’s Office to gather de-identified internal affairs information that had been scattered among hundreds of agencies — information that had not previously been collected in a uniform way, or shared with the public in a standardized format or central location.
“Fostering strong relationships between law enforcement and communities is essential to public safety. Transparency, fairness and mutual respect are foundational to building that essential trust,” Gov. Phil Murphy said. “Our state’s new dashboard testifies to the profound understanding of our law enforcement officers that such trust is forged by meaningful actions that reflect the crucial importance of this profession. Every effort to improve accountability among our esteemed law enforcement officers today will help better protect our community members tomorrow.”
“Today we take another step toward greater transparency and accountability in law enforcement through the release of our internal affairs dashboard,” Platkin said. “The Office of Justice Data aggregated a tremendous amount of information to give New Jerseyans insight into internal affairs cases that no other state provides. Now for the first time in state history, the public will be able to see, all in one location, the allegations and disciplinary action taken in internal affairs cases across New Jersey.”
“Not many agencies or states release this information,” OPIA Executive Director Tom Eicher said. “Bringing this data to light will enable the public to look with a broader lens to see if the internal affairs system is working the way it should be.”
Eicher said the Attorney General’s Office is committed to reviewing the data to identify any patterns that might raise concerns warranting further investigation.
“We are always looking at this data as a way to improve internal affairs policies, procedures and oversight,” Eicher said.
Among the features of the new dashboard is the ability to filter the data by active and closed investigations, as well as by county, agency, the complaint source, and the race of the officers and the complainants involved. The dashboard will also enable users to do side-by-side comparisons of two agencies, so the viewer can see if there is a significant disparity between the internal affairs complaints of two otherwise similar entities. The names of the officers involved are not listed.
“The New Jersey State Police is committed to transparency and accountability which helps build trust within the communities we serve,” said Col. Patrick J. Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “With this dashboard, the public will have additional insight into the internal investigations process that holds our troopers to the highest standards.”
New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police President Robert Fox and Executive Vice President Robert Gries said the FOP supports transparency in policing.
“We commend the Attorney General’s Office for supporting New Jersey law enforcement while establishing measures to ensure transparency for our citizens,” they said in a joint statement.
Bishop Jethro James Jr., president of the Newark-North Jersey Committee of Black Churchmen, said the dashboard “is a much-needed tool for all police departments and all communities. This tool will help identify the problem areas within police departments statewide. It will also identify issues dealing with racial profiling, excessive use of force and lack of sensitivity among all people.”
The numbers now listed on the dashboard show the internal affairs cases active in 2021. The Office of Justice Data will update the statistics on an annual basis as new information is submitted by police agencies around the state. Dashboard refinements are also being planned for 2022 that will enable a viewer to better understand how specific complaints are adjudicated, including whether an allegation started as one type of offense but was resolved as a lesser infraction.
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