Feds Probing Gender, Race Discrimination At NJ State Police: Reports

NEW JERSEY — Federal authorities are investigating claims of gender and racial discrimination at New Jersey State Police after lawsuits have claimed the agency has long perpetuated a hostile work environment and a culture dominated by straight white men, according to multiple reports.

In September, federal officials traveled from Washington, D.C., to Camden to meet with the attorneys, civil rights leaders and more than a dozen former troopers, the New York Times first reported.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice did not comment on the inquiry when contacted by the Times; however, multiple unidentified sources told the newspaper the department has since requested documents and conducted additional interviews.

"They are investigating, and we are hopeful," Gregg Zeff, a civil rights lawyer for the NAACP in New Jersey told the Times. "The department has always had a cultlike behavior and following. You’re either in or you’re out — and it’s very difficult to get in."

Civil rights officials also confirmed an inquiry into the agency when contacted by NJ Advance Media.

The full scope of the investigation remains unclear.

According to an NJ.com report, at least 25 lawsuits have been filed against the agency by Black, female, and LGBTQ+ troopers alleging a "rampant, deep-rooted pattern and practice of discrimination."

Last year, the agency employed 174 female officers, or 5.6 percent of its 3,117 troopers, according to New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin's office. That’s less than the national average for similar state police departments and less than half the average for all agencies, according to Justice Department data.

In December 2021, three retired female troopers joined a working female trooper to file a suit against the agency, accusing it of discrimination, retaliation, failing to promote them, and creating a hostile work environment for women.

The lawsuit remains in the New Jersey court system and was last amended in November.

In the lawsuit, retired troopers Dawn Curran, Wanda Stojanov and Rebecca Hotchkin, as well as current trooper Claire Krauchuk, are seeking compensatory damages including back pay and lost opportunity wages.

The group has also asked the court to require New Jersey State Police to implement policies and programs that promote equal hiring and promotion regardless of gender.

In another lawsuit, former state police spokesman Brian Polite claims he was overlooked for promotions and subjected to racist taunts from colleagues, including one that called him the "head (N-word) in charge," NJ.com reported.

New Jersey State Police have twice been subjected to federal oversight — once in the 1970s over hiring practices and again in the 2000s over racial profiling in traffic stops, reports said.

In a letter obtained by NJ.com, civil rights groups said federal intervention is needed again.

"More than a decade after federal oversight ended, credible evidence has emerged indicating that the bad old days are returning," the letter stated, adding, "that white officers with troubled records are winning promotion over more qualified troopers of color, and other minority officers, that these decisions are not based on merit, but on who you know."