No Lawrence Police Officers Named In NJ 'Discipline' Report

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — For the first time ever, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office publicly released the names of New Jersey police officers who were subject to "major discipline" between June 15, 2020, and December 31, 2020. No Lawrence Township police officer was on the list.

According to Tuesday's report, "major discipline" is described as officers who were fired, demoted, or suspended for more than five days.

The names of any police officer in New Jersey who received "major discipline" will now be made public in a yearly report. This includes county sheriff's officers, New Jersey State Police, and correctional officers.

To see the full list of names released by the Attorney General's Office, click here.

The new report was released in accordance with the Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive 2021-6.

In June, former Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal gave all New Jersey law-enforcement agencies two months to publicly release disciplinary info. This was opposed by police unions, which argued that releasing the information would shame officers accused of minor infractions.

Read More Here: NJ Police Depts. Have 2 Months To Release Disciplinary Reports

The New Jersey Supreme Court however ruled in favor of releasing the information.

"Today, New Jersey takes an important step forward, joining the majority of U.S. states that disclose the identities of law enforcement officers found responsible for engaging in serious disciplinary violations," Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said Tuesday.

"We are releasing this information not to shame or embarrass individual officers, but to provide the same type of transparency and accountability in policing that New Jersey mandates in other essential professions."

Bruck said that a "vast majority" of the state's law enforcement officers serve the public with "honor and integrity," so he took "no joy" in putting this information out.

But releasing the information was important and necessary as it led to building greater public trust while "promoting professionalism in law enforcement," Bruck said.

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