Police Accountability Project of the
New Jersey Libertarian Party
November 29, 2016
Lieutenant Mark Miller
Jersey City Police Department, IA Unit
1 Journal Square Plaza – 4th Floor
Jersey City, NJ 07306 (Via Fax to 201-547-5512)
Dear Lieutenant Miller:
I chair the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Police Accountability Project and ask that you accept this letter as our Internal Affairs complaint. We would like your agency to investigate whether various Jersey City officers and other personnel employed by your agency acted in accordance with department policy and the law regarding a search of an apartment at 314 3rd Street, Jersey City on April 18, 2012.
According to Judge Adam E. Jacobs' August 1, 2013 opinion, which was affirmed by the Appellate Division on November 16, 2016 in State v. Brian Laurenza, Docket No. A-5606-13T4, the officers searched the apartment based on the defendant's wife's consent which was not voluntarily given. The officers' failure to obtain a search warrant (or knowing and voluntary consent) resulted in the suppression of stolen goods that were found during the search.
If your officers, despite having received adequate training and direction regarding when and to obtain conduct to search a residence elected to ignore their training, we ask that you discipline them. Otherwise, we ask that your department review and supplement your training requirements in this area of the law.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very truly yours,
John Paff, Chairman
New Jersey Libertarian Party
Police Accountability Project
Email: paff@pobox.com
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Subsequent action: 08/15/17: Spoke with Lt. Rotondo who said that he is reviewing the matter and will get back to me. He said that no IA docket number has yet been assigned.