Groups want better look at complaints vs. police
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
Calling for more transparency in the way that complaints against police officers are reported to the public, three advocacy groups have issued recommendations they believe can begin to improve the situation.

Complaints made by members of the public against police officers may range from alleged improper behavior to alleged criminal behavior.

The three organizations that brought this issue to the attention of the public during a recent press conference in Freehold Borough were the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, the Latino Peace Officers Association and the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey.

Those organizations compiled a study on police complaint procedures, focusing on Monmouth County, after a recent incident in Freehold Borough.

In that Jan. 29 incident, a Freehold Township woman who was arrested along with her teenage son alleged that a Freehold Borough police officer used inappropriate force against them while making the arrests.

Advocates for the woman's family charged that the police officer involved in the incident "took part in racial profiling, brutality and discrimination."

A press release from the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey identified the woman who was involved in that incident as Puerto Rican.

According to Frank Argote-Freyre, the chairman of the Monmouth County Chapter of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office has since concluded its criminal investigation and declined to press charges against the Freehold Borough officer because of a lack of evidence.

According to Freehold Borough Police Chief Mitchell Roth, an internal administrative investigation is still ongoing, but the officer, Patrolman Chris Colaner, is no longer on administrative duty. Roth said he is back on full-time patrol duties.

"Since being back on patrol full-time, Patrolman Colaner is performing his duties in an exceptional manner," the chief said.

Argote-Freyre said the examination of the complaints lodged against Monmouth County police departments "is not an effort to devalue the enormous contribution the men and women in law enforcement make to our nation and state every day. This is part of an effort to make the police department more transparent and more friendly to the public. We strongly believe there needs to be someone outside the law enforcement community with access to the complaints filed against the police - a pair of outside eyes. The system is too closed."

The recommendations made by the advocacy groups include a citizen-police review board at the municipal level; the development of a citizens rights document that would be posted in a visible location in every police department in the state and throughout communities, in English and in other languages; the availability of police complaint forms on municipal government Internet Web sites; a county-wide complaint data base to keep track of complaints at each police department; and a community outreach program to educate the public, especially the immigrant community, as to what their civil rights are.

The inquiry into complaints filed against police officers tried to determine the frequency of allegations of excessive force and racial discrimination by police officers, according toArgote-Freyre.

The study was also expanded to review all citizen complaints against every municipal police agency in Monmouth County for the period 2001-2007.

"We requested data from the 47 municipal police departments in the county," Argote Freyre said.

According to Argote-Freyre and the report, most of the police departments "are not in compliance with reporting requirements mandated by the Attorney General. Of the 47 departments reviewed, only seven correctly filed Internal Affairs Annual Summary Reports."

Argote-Freyre said he is hoping that a similar study will be conducted on a statewide basis. He said the Monmouth County study used official Internal Affairs Annual Summary Reports from each agency for the seven-year time frame.

According to a press release provided by the advocacy groups, "The general picture that emerges from the investigation is not one that reflects well on the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office or many of the local departments."

According to Argote-Freyre, the study revealed there were 387 complaints of excessive force filed against police officers in Monmouth County between 2001 and 2007. Of those 387 complaints, 11 officers were held accountable.

With differential treatment complaints at 293 for the same time period, 12 complaints were sustained.

There were 318 complaints of alleged criminal behavior by police officers in Monmouth County between 2001 and 2007 and 20 were sustained by the internal police investigative process.

Meanwhile, of the more than 1,600 complaints by police administrators against subordinates, more than 50 percent of those cases were sustained.

Argote-Freyre said he knows that this is "not the end of the conversation regarding this issue. It is a beginning."

He said advocates will continue to monitor the situation. To that end, the organizations that compiled the study have established a Web page where the result of every police department in Monmouth County can be reviewed. The Internet address is www.monmouthcountypolice.com.