Matawan Police Officer Named In Attorney General's Report

MATAWAN, NJ — On Tuesday, for the first time ever, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office publicly released the names of all New Jersey police officers who were subject to major discipline between June 15, 2020 and December 31, 2020.

"Major discipline" is defined as police officers who were terminated, demoted, or suspended for more than five days.

A Matawan police officer was on the list, as were multiple corrections officers in the Monmouth County Jail. (Read that story: 8 Monmouth Co. Corrections Officers Faced 'Major Discipline')

The Matawan officer is Ptl. Jennifer Paglia, who was suspended for 20 days for "improper response to emergency service calls."

"There were five incidents in which Ptl. Paglia improperly delayed her response by either yielding to other responding police vehicles, taking routes that increased her response time or not activating emergency lights when necessary," according to page 50 of the report.

As Patch reported, Paglia has filed two lawsuits against the Matawan police department. She filed the first 2013, alleging sexual discrimination. In that case, Matawan borough settled with her for $315,000.

In 2018, Paglia filed a second lawsuit against the Matawan police force, alleging she was retaliated against by fellow police officers for filing her first lawsuit.

A second Matawan police officer, Christopher Stark, filed his own lawsuit against the department, alleging he was targeted for random drug testing because he supported Paglia. Stark's lawsuit is not yet resolved and his no longer on the force. Related: Ex-Matawan Cop Sues Town, Alleging He Was Fired Over Drug Test (June 2021)

This is the first time information like this has been made public. It was released in accordance with the Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive 2021-6, which former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal made two months ago, in light of this summer's New Jersey Supreme Court decision authorizing the public release of certain police disciplinary information.

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 who work in the state's jails and prisons.

The law change is meant to be more transparent with the public, to let the public know how their tax dollars are being spent and also to improve police-community relations.

"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," said Acting Attorney General Andrew Bruck on Tuesday. "The vast majority of New Jersey's law enforcement officers serve the public with honor and integrity, doing the right thing day-in and day-out for the communities they serve, so I take no joy in putting this information out. But we are doing this because it is an important and necessary step to build greater public trust while promoting professionalism in law enforcement."

You can find the entire 2020 disciplinary report here: https://www.nj.gov/oag/iapp/do...

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