Lawrence Police Saw No ‘Major Discipline’ Cases In 2022: Report

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — Not a single officer from the Lawrence Township Police Department received "major discipline" in 2022, according to a new report.

Earlier this week, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office released its third Major Discipline Report, which details hundreds of police officers in the state. This year’s report covers the period from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2022.

According to the attorney general’s office, “major discipline” is defined as terminations, reductions in rank, or suspension of more than five days. None of these happened in the local police department, according to the report.

Statewide most frequently occurring offenses in 2022 were related to attendance, including lateness and call-outs too close to the start of a shift, according to the AG’s report.

Descriptions mentioning a “use of force-related violation” accounted for about four percent of all major disciplinary actions across the state in 2022, prosecutors said.

Authorities noted that AG Directive 2022-14, issued in November 2022, expanded the list of infractions that would be considered major discipline to include discriminatory conduct, filing a false report, and intentionally performing an improper search.

However, the directive was not in effect for this reporting period. The first year of data under that new directive will be released in 2024, covering the 2023 calendar year, authorities said.

In Mercer County, only two police departments saw their officers named in the 'major discipline' report — Hopewell and Trenton.

Major Discipline Report History:

Until recent years, the state shielded the identities of officers who were disciplined or fired. But days after George Floyd was murdered by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020, then-Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal issued several directives involving police reform, including the disclosure of certain major-discipline violations from officers.

Grewal's order to release disciplinary records faced pushback from the State Police Benevolent Association, resulting in a year-long legal battle. The New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled in June 2021 that the state could identify officers subjected to "major" discipline in the prior year and going forward. But police discipline from beforehand remains confidential.

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