The Professional Responsibility and Special Prosecutions Unit is comprised of two assistant prosecutors, including a Unit Director, as well as a Lieutenant, Sergeant, detectives, and support staff. The Unit handles all investigations and prosecutions involving allegations of criminal conduct by police officers, public servants, and elected officials in Monmouth County.

With respect to police officers, the Unit investigates incidents that occur both on- and off-duty, to include official misconduct, theft, falsifying reports, excessive force, sexual assault, aggravated assault, evidence tampering, narcotics offenses, and domestic violence. Cases come from direct complaints of private citizens, referrals from municipal internal affairs units, referrals from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (OAG), and those initiated by this Unit. The Unit also reviews certain incidents of use of force, weapons discharges, and vehicular pursuits within the County for compliance with established policies of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the OAG. Further, the Unit supervises the internal affairs functions of our local agencies and conducts administrative investigations into allegations against local police chiefs and certain allegations of misconduct against local law-enforcement officers. The Unit additionally conducts background checks and internal investigations of Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office employees.

With respect to other public officials in Monmouth County, the Unit investigates and prosecutes public corruption cases involving violation of the public trust, including official misconduct, misuse of public funds, bribery, and election fraud. 

Public corruption investigations often begin with concerned citizens supplying important tips, leads, and background information to investigators. Anyone with information concerning crimes involving a public official should contact 732-431-7160. If you wish to remain anonymous, please contact Monmouth County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-671-4400 or text “MONMOUTH" with your tip to 274637 (CRIMES).

 

ProfessionalResponsibilityUnit

The 4 A’s of Internal Affairs

1. ANYONE – Any individual must be permitted to file an Internal Affairs complaint. It can be a victim, a friend of the victim, a parent, a juvenile (with or without parents), an undocumented immigrant (we are not permitted to ask about immigration status) or it can be anonymous. ANYONE means ANYONE.

2. ANY WAY – An Internal Affairs complaint can be filed in ANY WAY. It could be filed by phone, by letter, written on a napkin, in person… Whatever is best for the person filing. We cannot make someone show up in person or swear the statement to initiate the complaint process.

3. ANY TIME – A complaint must be taken regardless of the hour or day of the week. At no time should a complaint be told to return later, even if the IA officer is unavailable. ANY law enforcement officer or civilian employee must take a complaint.

4. ANYTHING – As long as a complaint has sufficient factual information, the complaint must be investigated. It is predicated upon the victim’s view of the situation.

* * * LAW ENFORCEMENT MUST AVOID ANY LANGUAGE THAT IS DESIGNED TO DISSUADE SOMEBODY FROM FILING A COMPLAINT.

2019 PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS SUMMARY REPORTS
Countywide Law Enforcement Agencies

TABLE 1: Complaints Filed
Type of Complaint Anonymous Complaints Citizens Complaints Agency Complaints Total Complaints
Excessive Force 0 28 2 30
Improper Arrest 0 2 0 2
Improper Entry 0 1 0 1
Improper Search 0 11 0 11
Other Criminal Violation 1 41 18 60
Differential Treatment 0 28 0 28
Demeanor 6 174 14 194
Domestic Violence 0 4 3 7
Other Rule Violation 9 81 240 330
TOTAL 16 370 277 663
Table 2: Agency Dispositions
Type of Complaint Sustained Exonerated Not Sustained Unfounded Administratively Closed Total Dispositions
Excessive Force 0 24 8 3 0 35
Improper Arrest 0 2 1 1 0 4
Improper Entry 0 0 0 0 1 1
Improper Search 1 7 0 1 0 9
Other Criminal Violation 2 14 11 8 9 44
Differential Treatment 0 15 5 4 2 26
Demeanor 24 84 31 34 15 188
Domestic Violence 1 0 5 1 6 13
Other Rule Violation 173 68 30 29 24 324
TOTAL 201 214 91 81 57 644
Table 3: Court Dispositions
Court Cases Dismissed Cases Diverted Acquittals Convictions
Municipal Court 0 0 0 0
Superior Court 0 1 0 1
TOTAL 0 1 0 1

As per the Attorney General’s Internal Affairs Policies and Procedures, every law enforcement agency must report internal affairs activity to the county prosecutor on an internal affairs summary report form, which includes the number of cases by type of case received and disposed of during the reporting period.  The statistics included here represent the total number of cases countywide.

2020 PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS SUMMARY REPORT
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office

TABLE 1: Complaints Filed
Type of Complaint Anonymous Complaints Citizens Complaints Agency Complaints Total Complaints
Excessive Force 0 0 0 0
Improper Arrest 0 0 0 0
Improper Entry 0 0 0 0
Improper Search 0 0 0 0
Other Criminal Violation 0 1 0 1
Differential Treatment 0 0 0 0
Demeanor 0 0 0 0
Domestic Violence 0 0 0 0
Other Rule Violation 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 0 1 0 1
Table 3: Court Dispositions
Court Cases Dismissed Cases Diverted Acquittals Convictions
Municipal Court 0 0 0 0
Superior Court 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 0 0 0 0

2019 Professional Standards Summary Report (MCPO)

2018 Professional Standards Summary Report (MCPO)