TRENTON — Four New Jersey state
troopers were either fired or forced to step down over bad behavior last year,
according to a report from the State Police's internal affairs office.
They include an officer who was
found guilty of domestic violence and mishandling a firearm; one who engaged in
"racially offensive behavior" and publicly discussed police
procedures while off duty; one who abused sick time policies and then lied
about it; and one who drove drunk on the job, according to the report.
The report found overall
incidents within the State Police rose 1 percent in 2015 from the previous
year. The report notes that there were 727 incidents in 2015 for the division,
which has 2,600 sworn members, and that it also received 1,084 citizen
compliments during that same period.
It also found that incidents
classified as police misconduct fell slightly, while those classified as
administrative issues rose. Lt. Brian Polite, a spokesman for the State Police,
attributed the change to improved self-policing within the division.
"Front-line supervisors are
doing a better job of recognizing any small signs of things that could become
issues and they're taking steps immediately to address them," he said.
The annual report details the
findings of the Office of Professional Standards, which was created during an
internal reorganization when the State Police was under federal monitoring for
racial profiling. It describes major discipline meted out in misconduct cases
but does not name any of the troopers involved.
State authorities also declined
to identify the officers who were fired, resigned or retired over misconduct
claims, calling the cases internal personnel matters. Often, troopers
disciplined for misconduct are never identified publicly unless they are also
charged criminally for their behavior or if they challenge the discipline
before a state board.
But one of the four troopers who
left the State Police last year has been identified in public records
elsewhere. Sgt. Michael Roadside pleaded guilty in December to a single charge
of driving while intoxicated after he was involved in a minor accident at a
Garden State Parkway rest stop.
Dashboard video obtained by NJ
Advance Media showed the sergeant was disheveled and acting erratically after
the crash, initially declaring he wasn't drunk and blaming his behavior on a
medical problem. The discipline report indicates Roadside was given a 56-day
suspension and forfeited his vacation and personal time before he was forced
into retirement over the ordeal.
It also discloses that one
trooper was charged with simple assault in 2015 for an off duty incident, but
was acquitted at trial and is still facing an internal misconduct
investigation. NJ Advance Media reported last year that Trooper Aris Varvar was
found not guilty of simple assault after he was accused of kicking a handcuffed
suspect in the head following a police chase.
The report indicates that four
troopers were charged with criminal or disorderly persons offenses while off
duty during 2015.
That most likely includes trooper
Steven Hodge, who was indicted last October for attacking a man with a bottle
in a dispute outside Met Life Stadium. A second grand jury later threw out the
case against Hodge, instead indicting his brother for the assault, but the trooper
may still face lesser charges in municipal court and an internal investigation
is ongoing.
Many of the officers disciplined
in 2015 pleaded guilty to or were found guilty of incidents involving alcohol
or domestic violence. Only two were disciplined for excessive force, including
a trooper who pepper sprayed and kicked a suspect "without
justification" and received a 120-day suspension, the report said.
It's unclear when many of these
incidents occurred because disciplinary matters within the division can stretch
on for months or years, meaning action brought against a trooper in 2015 could
stem from an incident that happened much earlier.
