Only two police officers made the 2022 major discipline reports for the Secaucus Police Department, along with the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office, public documents show, with one dispatcher also being fired.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Dispatcher [Molly Freyer] was involved in a DWI crash while off-duty, whereby one of the passengers suffered serious injuries. Dispatcher was charged with 2nd Degree Assault by Auto, DWI and Possession of Fraudulent License,” the Secaucus PD report says.
“Dispatcher lied to responding police officers who were investigating the crash.”
She, along with Police Officer Matthew Murphy, were terminated last year and those were the only two actions listed on the Secaucus Police Department’s annual report, which was mandated statewide by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office in 2020.
“[Officer Murphy] engaged in conduct during a road rage incident, while armed and off-duty, that resulted in criminal charges filed by the HCPO for threatening the occupants of another vehicle. He was terminated from his probationary position as a police officer.”
In their only disciplinary action listed from 2022, Hudson County Sheriff’s Officer Joseph Llave was suspended for 15 days after camera footage from the courthouse showed him roughing up and escorting a man out of the courthouse who wasn’t given the opportunity to leave on his own.
“His interview and report were inconsistent with what was on video. Officer Llave’s conduct was a violation of the Attorney General’s Use of Force Policy and a violation of the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office Rules and Regulations Use of Force Topic,” the incident description says.
“Additionally, Officer Llave’s demeanor with the complainant was found to be in
violation of the Hudson County Sheriff’s Rules and Regulations.”
The Kearny and West New York Police Departments, along with the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, did not report any major discipline pertaining to suspensions, terminations, or resignations in 2022.
The Harrison and Guttenberg Police Department also reported the same, as HCV previously mentioned.
Additionally, the Jersey City Police Department suspended six officers and fired three – while one forfeited his job after pleading guilty to a crime – last year, while the Hoboken Police Department had two cops resign, one retire, and seven face major discipline.
New Jersey law enforcement agencies are technically required to post on their website by January 31st of each year, but many still just submit to the AG’s office through an online portal.
The state’s annual database has also not been updated with each department’s major discipline report yet.
At this point, the reports from the East Newark, Bayonne, and North Bergen Police Departments are still not yet available.
Correction: This story was updated to reflect that the Kearny Police Department did not have any major discipline reported for 2022.
