Parsippany PD Reported No Major Infractions In 2nd Half Of 2020

PARSIPPANY, NJ — The Parsippany Police Department had to report the names of all officers who were subject to major discipline in the second half of 2020. There were none.

The New Jersey Attorney General's Office released the names and agencies of officers who were fired, demoted or suspended five or more days from June 15, 2020 to the end of the calendar year. They also published a list of departments that had no officers who fit that description, which included Parsippany police.

In June, former Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal gave all New Jersey law-enforcement agencies two months to publicly release certain disciplinary info. The directive came after the New Jersey Supreme Court authorized the public release of such info on a going-forward basis.

“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," said Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck. "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."

Three Morris County agencies released the names of officers subject to major discipline:

• Chatham Township police: Sgt. Dan Papa, suspended 60 days. "Sgt. Papa was suspended 60 days for Conduct Unbecoming a Police Officer in regard to an
  off-duty incident."
• East Hanover police: Sgt. Jason Hawiszczak, demoted. "Sgt Hawiszczak was demoted for failure to supervise, failure to take police action and misuse
  of the CJIS database."
• Hanover police: Ptl. Marc Leggour, suspended 20 days. "Excessive tardiness."

“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," Bruck said. "But we are doing this because it is an important and necessary step to build greater public trust while promoting professionalism in law enforcement.”

In June, State PBA President Pat Colligan called the Supreme Court's decision "frustrating and disappointing." But Colligan praised a provision that allows officers who agreed to discipline under the assumption that it would remain confidential, to seek a judge's approval to keep the records secret.

"We are pleased that the court recognized that many officers only resolved disciplinary actions because they received specific promises of confidentiality which they relied upon, and that they are entitled to a hearing before release of any information regarding events that may have occurred decades ago," Colligan said. "We continue to be disappointed in the Attorney General's (then Grewal) ongoing refusal to meet with us to discuss fairness within police reform as well as his continuing attacks on law enforcement."

Days after then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd, Grewal issued several directives involving police reform. Actions included expansion of Crisis Intervention Team training, development of a statewide "Use of Force Portal" and updates to the state's use-of-force policy. New Jersey law enforcement is now banned from using chokeholds "except in the very limited situations when deadly force is necessary to address an imminent threat to life."

But Grewal's order to release disciplinary records faced pushback, which turned into a year-long legal battle. The unanimous ruling found state authorities could identify officers subjected to "major" discipline in the past year and going forward. But police disciplined prior can seek a judge to try and block the public disclosure.

The attorney general's office launched a beta version of its Use of Force Dashboard on April 6. Use of force is admissable in many policing situations and does not imply misconduct.

Thanks for reading. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip? Email josh.bakan@patch.com. Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter and follow the Parsippany Patch Facebook page.