3 Woodbridge Police Officers Named In Major Discipline Report

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — This week the New Jersey Attorney General published this list of all the police officers in the state who were subject to "major discipline" in 2022.

You can read the entire list here; it was released Wednesday

Three Woodbridge police officers were named on it, for infractions that included head-butting another police officer while on duty, to another WPD officer who drove recklessly and crashed their squad car. A Perth Amboy police officer was also named: She was suspended for 30 days for using the computer database for her own personal reasons. See the specific officers below.

“Major discipline” is defined as termination (being fired from the police force), reduction in rank, or being suspended for more than five days.

The report was released by New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, an appointee of Gov. Murphy.

It was an extremely controversial decision to release this report, as up until now such internal disciplinary action against police was deemed confidential. For comparison, the state of New Jersey does not publish such a list of public schoolteachers who are disciplined on the job, or of all the state workers who have been demoted, suspended or fired.

When Murphy's administration first decided to make the list public in 2021, a half dozen police unions sued him and his Attorney General. The case went all the way to the NJ Supreme Court, which ultimately sided with Murphy that the report could be released.

The decision to make the Major Discipline file public is part of Gov. Murphy's goal of making police in New Jersey more transparent and accountable, in the wake of public protest about fatal police shootings and the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

Patrick Colligan, president of the state Policemen’s Benevolent Association, New Jersey’s largest police union, told NJ.com at the time the Supreme Court's decision was “frustrating and disappointing," and that releasing the report will only humiliate officers, some of who committed very minor infractions while on the job.

“The NJSPBA does not and will not protect bad officers who violate the public trust and, yet, the 99.9% of good men and women serving in law enforcement continue to find themselves under attack,” Colligan said at the time.

Here are the three Woodbridge Twp. police officers:

1. Ofc. Joel Jones
Terminated: No
Demoted: No
Suspended: Yes
# of Days Suspended: 45
Sustained Charge: Standard of conduct, Loyalty, Cooperation, General Responsibilities (4 Counts), Neglect of duty, Performance of Duty, Insubordination, Obedience to laws and regulations, Criticism of official acts or orders, Conduct towards superior and subordinate officers and associates, harassment(admin charge), simple assault(admin charge), general causes (5 counts)

Description: Officer Jones was on duty in June 2021. He engaged in a confrontation with another officer that led to him head-butting the other officer. There were no injuries reported. An investigation led to the sustained finding that Officer Jones was the aggressor in the incident. He was suspended for 45 days.

2. Ofc. Jonathan Kreusch
Terminated: No
Demoted: No
Suspended: Yes
# of Days Suspended: 8
Sustained Charge: Operation of motor vehicles (2 counts), Urgent/immediate calls - code 2 responses (2 counts), Operation and activation procedures (2 counts), Seatbelts, Seatbelt usage requirements (title 39, admin charge), Careless driving (admin charge), Reckless driving (admin charge), General causes (2 Counts)

Description: Officer Kreusch was on duty on July 2022. He operated his assigned police vehicle in a reckless manner resulting in a one car crash, where he was injured and the police vehicle was totalled. He also failed to wear his seatbelt and activate his body worn camera. He was suspended for 8 days.

3. Ofc. Andrew Lyszyk
Terminated: No
Demoted: No
Suspended: Yes
# of Days Suspended: 10
Sustained Charge: Standard of conduct, Performance of Duty, Obedience to laws and regulations, Alcoholic beverages and drugs, General causes (2 counts)

Description: Officer Lyszyk was assigned to a multi-agency task force in July 2022. While on duty, he knowingly consumed an alcoholic beverage in violation of departmental rules and regulations. He was suspended for 10 days.

Perth Amboy PD

Special Police Officer Class 1 Madelyn Abreu

Terminated: No

Demoted: No

Suspended: Yes

# of Days Suspended: 30

Sustained Charge: Improper Police Action

Description: Special Police Officer Class 1 Abreu was suspended 30 days from her part-time position for improper access of computer database.