PRINCETON: Boro PD misconduct charges rose steeply in 2008

By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
  A review of Princeton Borough Police Department Internal Affairs logs for the last three years shows a steep increase in the incidence of alleged rule infractions and criminal violations needing Police Department investigation in 2008.
   Police Chief Anthony Federico, while acknowledging the statistics were a serious and unwelcome development, said most of the case files in 2008 emanated from only two incidents, whose complicated nature necessitated the opening of many different Internal Affairs case files. Those incidents were subsequently referred to the Mercer County prosecutor’s office, Chief Federico said.
   In 2006, borough police Internal Affairs logged 13 internal investigations stemming from complaints. Six of the complaints were sustained, resulting in internal disciplinary charges or other action. In 2007, 14 internal investigations from complaints resulted in seven sustained complaints. No criminal charges ensued from any complaint in 2006 or 2007.
   In 2008, borough police Internal Affairs investigations of complaints jumped to 33 with 24 of the complaints sustained. Criminal charges were issued in three of these.
   In 2008, 15 of the sustained complaints were ruled “administratively closed,” the result of either the withdrawal of the complaint or the departure of the accused officer from the force (the logs did not specify which disposition applied, and Chief Federico declined to elaborate).
   According to the 2008 log, four of the remaining sustained complaints were listed as simply “sustained” with no disciplinary action noted, and two others resulted in internal disciplinary charges.
   The Internal Affairs logs were obtained from the borough through an Open Public Records Act request. They previously had been distributed to members of the Princeton Borough Council.
   In 2008, Chief Federico said, “16 of those 33 (complaints) were from one case, and another three were from another case so 19 of them are from two cases.”
   Chief Federico refused to name the police officers involved, but said the two incidents had been ones, which were turned over to the Mercer County prosecutor’s office, which subsequently conducted a lengthy investigation of the complicated cases.
   The police are required to investigate every complaint, even anonymous ones, Chief Federico said. A case file is opened for each compliant, he said. If, in the course of investigating a compliant, evidence of another infraction turns up, then a second case file is opened, he said, in explaining why so many cases had been opened in 2008 from two incidents.
   Citing an example, Chief Federico said if an officer made a traffic stop, and a complaint was filed alleging improper demeanor, a case and investigation would be opened. If subsequently it came to light the officer had filed a false police report of the traffic stop, a new case file would be opened to investigate that infraction, he said.
   ”The numbers grow as the investigation grows,” he said.
   ”It is very unusual to have an incident where the officer actually breaks the law, and that is why this was such a problem-some matter,” Chief Federico said of the situation in 2008.
   He said in his 30 years as a police officer he had only seen officers getting themselves involved in criminal matters a handful of times.
   As of Dec. 31, 2008, three borough police officers — Kevin Creegan, James Dodd and Kenneth Riley — were suspended and two — Sean McNeff and William Perez — had resigned. Chief Federico previously confirmed an additional borough police officer is the subject of an internal probe while remaining on active duty.
   Officer McNeff resigned, and Officer Dodd was suspended without pay, Chief Federico previously said, after the results of an internal investigation were turned over to the Mercer County prosecutor’s office. Officer Dodd has been charged with official misconduct and perjury by the prosecutor’s office, he said.
   In September, the prosecutor’s office indicted Sgt. Riley on six felony charges for allegedly accessing his department’s video record database without authorization and showing other officers what he saw in order to adversely affect another officer’s standing.
   Patrolman Perez and Sgt. Creegan were subjects of the same prosecutor’s office probe. Patrolman Perez resigned from the force in mid-December, and charges are not being pursued in his case. The prosecutor’s office declined to indict Sgt. Creegan, who is the subject of a borough administrative hearing.
   In comments made Feb. 3 before the Borough Council, Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr. and Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Doris M. Galuchie said the investigation involving Sgt. Riley, Sgt. Creegan and Patrolman Perez was a long and unique case, involving numerous avenues requiring investigation.
   Borough Council members have yet to formally discuss the contents of the logs or receive any interpretive input from the police. In interviews, council members said the data contained in the logs confirmed what they and the public already knew about the publicly disclosed cases, but without greater context or interpretation, it was difficult to draw any conclusions from the jump in cases in 2008.
   ”My hunch is the increase relates to the disciplinary proceedings that we know about that have been going on in the last year,” said Councilman Kevin Wilkes. “They are kind of sparse in information. It is not entirely clear to me what the nature of the incidents are. Are we talking about coming to work without your tie or are we talking about pistol whipping a Spanish guy behind a restaurant?”
   ”I think that it doesn’t show anything that surprised me in light of what has been occurring in the Police Department,” said Council President Andrew Koontz.
   Mr. Koontz said the case levels in the 2006 and 2007 logs can be viewed as a baseline of complaints, with those in 2008 representing a spike due to the recent proceedings.
   ”I find it impossible to come to any valid types of conclusions from those raw statistics,” said Councilman David Goldfarb.
   The jump in 2008 does appear to be explained by the incident that was the subject of the lengthy prosecutor’s office investigation, he said.
   ”The Internal Affairs logs raise many questions concerning the conduct of individual officers within our Police Department,” said Councilman Roger Martindell. “The log paints a picture of sustained conflict within the department and raises questions as to what the role of the governing body will be in providing oversight and review of the apparent conflicts in the department.”
   ”I guess I’m concerned at the increase in the number of incidents. We all are, but because we don’t know very much about them, that’s all I can say,” said Councilwoman Barbara Trelstad.