1 South Brunswick Officer Suspended In 2nd Half Of 2020

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, 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. One South Brunswick 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.

South Brunswick officer Ricardo Moreira, a 9-year veteran was suspended for 30 days in 2020. "An Internal Affairs Investigation determined that Officer Moreira violated Depart Rules. Specifically, Performance of Duty and Neglect of Duty for leaving a scheduled training," the report said.

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.

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. The directive came after the New Jersey Supreme Court authorized the public release of such info on a going-forward basis.

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

"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.

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

(Reporting by Josh Bakan, Patch Staff)

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