When a New Jersey law enforcement officer or firefighter is suspended without pay pending the outcome of a disciplinary action, namely, termination charges, state law provides that a final determination on the charges shall be rendered within 180 calendar days from the date he or she is suspended without pay. Under the law, if a
Internal Affairs
N.J. State Police should speed up internal investigations, watchdog report says
As reported by nj.com, a new report is critical of how the New Jersey State Police has handled some low-level discipline cases and faults investigators for sometimes taking too long, but overall the review concluded the agency followed the law in handling internal investigations.
The Office of the State Comptroller also raised concerns that…
NJ Attorney General Files Application Seeking to Dissolve Stay of Implementing Directives 2020-05 and 06
At approximately 10:30 PM on July 9, 2020, The State Attorney General sought permission to file a motion seeking emergent relief to dissolve the stay to implement Directives 2020-5 & 2020-6 entered by the Appellate Division earlier that day. The stay as currently entered delays the Attorney General’s ability to implement Directives 2020-5 & 2020-6…
New Jersey Appellate Division Issues Stay on NJ Attorney General Directives 2020-05 and 06
Today, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division Issued a Temporary Stay on the release of public disclosure of the identities of Law Enforcement Officer who have been sanctioned for “serious disciplinary violations”, defined as
“termination of employment, reduction in rank or grade, and/or suspension greater than five days”. In issuing the Stay a briefing…
New Rules For Investigations Of NJ Police Debated
As reported by NJ.com, state lawmakers are pushing dueling proposals to rebuild the public’ trust of investigations into police misconduct as racial tensions continue to flare in Ferguson, Mo., where two police officers were shot and seriously injured. A State Senate panel discussed a bill that would require special prosecutors to be appointed any…
Lawmaker Suggests Police Internal Affairs Functions Be Transferred To AG’s Office
As reported by nj.com, the internal affairs functions of every law enforcement agency in New Jersey would be transferred to the Attorney General’s Office under a bill proposed by an assemblyman, who contends politics and bias too often creep into investigations when police departments police themselves.
Assemblyman Peter Barnes III (D-Middlesex), the …
ACLU Pokes Hole In Attorney General’s Internal Affairs Complaint Forms For Police
As reported by nj.com, after rolling out tougher rules in May for police departments’ internal affairs units, State Attorney General Paula Dow has released new reporting forms that omit a crucial question: How many complaints about police officers are being investigated at the end of each year? The new forms published Tuesday don’t require police …
Termination of Internal Affairs Officer Who Disclosed Pending Investigation Affirmed
On June 1, 2010, the Appellate Division decided In the Matter of Michael Sottilare, Department of Corrections Hudson County, Docket No.: A-4761-08T3. In the case, Michael Sottilare appealed from a Civil Service Commission (“Commission”) decision affirming the Hudson County Division of Personnel’s termination of his employment with the county’s Department of Corrections.
Sottilare, after more than ten years as a corrections officer, received four preliminary notices of disciplinary action arising from events commencing on November 30, 2005 and continuing through December 23, 2005. The final incident resulted in his termination.
While on leave due to an on-the-job injury, Sottilare was videotaped working at a construction site in contravention of Hudson County’s policy requiring persons on leave to remain at home unless they are receiving medical care or purchasing medication. A disciplinary charge of malingering issued as a result. Shortly thereafter, on December 23, 2005, Sottilare made a telephone call to the New Jersey Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 109 office in order to obtain legal representation for the hearing scheduled on the malingering charge and to request a postponement. Officer Shaara Marie Green, then the Vice President of PBA Local 109, answered the phone call.
When Green testified before the Office of Administrative Law, she said she told Sottilare that the union could not provide him with legal representation because the Internal Affairs Unit (“IAU”) officers were no longer members. Sottilare had been assigned to IAU since 1995 or 1996. Green also told Sottialre to obtain his own attorney, and gave him the name of the person that his attorney should contact in order to request the postponement.
Green also testified that after she told Sottialre that PBA Local 109 could not provide him with counsel, Sottilare informed her that she was under investigation by IAU. Sottialre explained to Green that surveillance was being initiated because she was reportedly living with an ex-inmate in violation of departmental policy.
Green immediately telephoned Ricardo Alves, Sottilare’s supervisor at IAU, to report the conversation. When Alves testified, he confirmed that he received a call from Green about the complaint that had been filed against her and that Sottilare had told her that she was the subject of an IAU investigation. Deputy Warden David Krusznis confirmed that Green was being investigated and said that disclosure of the existence of a pending IAU investigation is a violation of departmental policies and procedures, as well as of guidelines promulgated by the Office of the Attorney General.Continue Reading Termination of Internal Affairs Officer Who Disclosed Pending Investigation Affirmed
SID Union Accuses NJDOC of Preventing, Blocking Prison Investigations
As reported in the Star-Ledger on November 26, 2009, according to a lawsuit filed by the union representing prison investigators, senior officials at the Department of Corrections are illegally blocking internal investigations into bribery, cell phone smuggling and gang activity. In short, the lawsuit alleges that Correction officials shut down ongoing probes or prevented investigations …
Discipline Regading Dissemination of Internal Affairs Documents Upheld
In Division of State Police v. In the Matter of Detective Sergeant First Class Daniel Flaherty, Docket No. A-0257-07T20257-07T2, the Appellate Division addressed the validity and ultimate imposition of disciplinary charges lodged against a Detective Sergeant of the New Jersey State Police. The appeal arose out of disciplinary charges filed by the New Jersey Division of State Police (“Division”) against Detective Sergeant First Class Daniel Flaherty, charging him with: (1) disseminating Division documents without proper authorization; (2) behaving in an official capacity to the personal discredit of a member of the State Police or to the Division; and (3) willfully disobeying a lawful verbal or written order.
The underlying facts of this case were not substantially in dispute. In 2001, Flaherty filed an age discrimination complaint with the New Jersey State Police Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action (“EEO/AA”) intake unit. He alleged that since 1995, the State Police had denied him numerous specialist positions because of his age. The EEO/AA assigned Lieutenant Patrick Reilly to investigate his claim. After two years, in which the allegations still had not been resolved, the EEO/AA replaced Reilly with DSFC Kevin Rowe.
On May 5, 2003, Flaherty filed a New Jersey State Police Reportable Incident Form alleging “culpable inefficiency” against Reilly. Pursuant to a Division policy regarding non-disclosure of confidential internal investigations, the Office of Professional Standards (“OPS”) denied his request to access the file regarding his complaint against Reilly.
The following month, the State Police administratively closed Flaherty’s complaint file against Reilly and transferred the matter to the Attorney General’s EEO/AA section. In a letter dated September 24, 2003, a Senior Deputy Attorney General informed Flaherty that his claim against Reilly could not be substantiated.
Thereafter, on May 31, 2003, the Division assigned Flaherty to the OPS, which was then called the State Police Internal Affairs Investigation Bureau. Pursuant to Division of Internal Affairs policies and procedures, “[t]he nature and source of internal allegations, the progress of internal affairs investigations, and the resulting materials are confidential information. The contents of internal investigation case files shall be retained in the internal affairs unit and clearly marked as confidential.” Notwithstanding these provisions, internal investigation files can be released in certain enumerated circumstances. As such, Flaherty executed a confidentiality agreement which provided the dissemination of all confidential information and/or documents.
In a letter dated February 20, 2004, the Department of Law and Public Safety found that Flaherty’s age discrimination claims could not be substantiated. In his appeal to the Department of Personnel, Flaherty questioned the manner in which the State Police and the Attorney General’s office investigated hisContinue Reading Discipline Regading Dissemination of Internal Affairs Documents Upheld