The Major Crimes Bureau of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office encompasses the Homicide/Property Crimes Unit, the Cold Case Unit, the Fatal Motor Vehicle Accident Unit, and the Asbury Park Satellite Office.
The Major Crimes Bureau is staffed by assistant prosecutors, one of whom who serves as the Director. The assistant prosecutors render legal decisions and prosecute criminal cases in Superior Court. Law-enforcement personnel handle the criminal investigations. A Lieutenant oversees the daily operation of the Major Crimes Bureau and is assisted by detective sergeants in that capacity. The detectives in this Bureau participate in complex investigations and are often engaged in locating and interviewing witnesses, taking formal statements, preparing affidavits in support of search warrants and communication data warrants, preparing and conducting photographic lineups, and all aspects of preparing a case for trial. Frequently, detectives from this Bureau work cooperatively with law enforcement officers from municipal, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
HOMICIDE/PROPERTY CRIMES UNIT
The Homicide/Property Crimes Unit is responsible for investigating all homicides and suspicious deaths that occur within the County of Monmouth. The Unit is also responsible for the investigation of missing persons under circumstances that appear suspicious. When requested by municipal police departments, the Unit will also assist in Attempted Murder/Aggravated Assault investigations, depending on the severity of injury inflicted and the complexity of the investigation. Additionally, several specifically trained detectives within the Unit are responsible for investigating and determining the origin and cause of arsons and arson-related crimes within the County of Monmouth. These investigations include fires involving fatalities or seriously injured individuals, suspicious fires, fires occurring repeatedly at the same location or where a series of fires indicates a pattern of arson activity, rapidly spreading fires, large-scale fires, explosions, as well as bomb threats and swatting hoaxes. The Arson Unit works closely with the Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office, New Jersey State Police Arson & Bomb Unit, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Also, detectives are responsible for assisting local police departments in investigations into high-end robberies/burglaries within the County of Monmouth. In this capacity, detectives also assist municipal, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies with the investigation of bank robberies.
COLD CASE UNIT
The Cold Case Unit’s primary responsibility is to investigate unsolved homicides after all reasonable investigatory leads have been explored and all items of physical evidence of probative value have been evaluated as to their present condition and availability. This Unit has a Detective who works cooperatively with local and state agencies during investigations of this nature.
FATAL MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT UNIT
The Fatal Motor Vehicle Accident Unit is responsible for investigating fatal and serious bodily-injury motor-vehicle accidents involving criminal recklessness within the County of Monmouth. This Unit works closely with the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team (SCART), which is a collection of highly trained collision reconstruction specialists drawn from local police departments throughout Monmouth County.
ASBURY PARK SATELLITE OFFICE SQUAD
The Asbury Park Satellite Office Squad detectives work out of the Prosecutor’s Office’s Asbury Park Satellite Office and focus their daily efforts on major crimes occurring in the Greater Asbury Park area.