News conference scheduled
by police chief, prosecutor for today
ASBURY PARK — The 16-year
city police department veteran who was arrested Wednesday will be suspended
without pay and is facing an additional computer crimes charge, police said
Thursday.
Keith German, 45, a
patrolman since 1998, was taken into custody at his home in Tinton Falls by
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office investigators and charged with official
misconduct, Asbury Park Press learned Wednesday night.
Official misconduct is a
second-degree crime, punishable by five to 10 years in prison. Second-degree
crimes carry a presumption of jail time if convicted. Details about the charge
were not made public.
Asbury Park Police Chief
Mark Kinmon said the police department and Prosecutor’s Office will hold a news
conference at 1 p.m. today on the case.
“There is a lot more to
(the story),” Kinmon said.
German also is charged with
“disclosing data,” according to Cynthia Scott, a spokeswoman for the Monmouth
County Sheriff’s Department. She did not provide further details about the
arrest, but confirmed German was released Wednesday night after posting 10
percent of a $50,000 bail.
The disclosing data charge
is defined in the New Jersey criminal code as an act that releases information
from a protected database without authorization.
Detective Capt. Marshawn
Love confirmed Thursday that German “will be suspended without pay.”
Detective Daniel Kowsaluk,
the Policeman’s Benevolent Association Local 6 representative, did not return
the call for comment.
City and county law
enforcement officials remained mum Thursday, declining to release any further
information about German’s arrest.
Acting Monmouth County
Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni declined to comment on German’s arrest.
“When there is an
announcement to be made, the press will be notified, but we don’t have any
information,” Gramiccioni said.
German, who has served as a
city youth basketball league coach, also declined comment. He referred
questions to his Red Bank attorney Stanley Werse. Werse said German plans to
enter a not guilty plea.
German’s annual base salary
in 2012 as a city police officer was $90,300, according to the latest New
Jersey pension records.
Mayor Myra Campbell said
she didn’t know German was arrested until reading it in the Press. The mayor
acknowledged that the arrest of a police officer would cast a bad light on a
city already gripped by crime and gang activity. She declined to discuss the
case further.
Deputy Mayor Sue Henderson
said German’s arrest shows growth in a police department that historically has
not investigated itself.
“This sends the message to
everyone else that just because you are a police officer, that doesn’t mean you
are above the law,” Henderson said.