NJ IA COMPLIANCE | OPS LEARNING CENTER

NEW JERSEY LAW ENFORCEMENT – ONLINE INTERNAL AFFAIRS COMPLIANCE INSTRUCTIONS

INTRODUCTION: All NJ law enforcement agencies are required to comply with the latest NJ OAG “Internal Affairs Policies and Procedures” (“November 2022 IAPP”), which took effect on or about November of 2022. These policies and procedures require all NJ law enforcement agencies to:

1. Provide all online visitors with a secure online IA reporting method. STRONGLY encouraged.

2. Create there own IA fact sheet/brochure that includes information on the internal affairs process and what role the complainant can expect to play during the IA process. According to the AG’s policy, if feasible, this fact sheet or brochure is to be provided at the time of the complaint.

3. Provide public access to various methods for reporting allegations of misconduct. This includes making available online the approved “New Jersey Internal Affairs Reporting Forms and Informational Sheets” in 11 different languages (English, Arabic, Chinese, Haitian, Hindi, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.)

BY FOLLOWING THE BELOW GUIDANCE, ALL OPS NETWORK PARTNER AGENCIES WILL QUICKLY AND EASILY BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL REQUIRED ONLINE NJOAG “Internal Affairs Policies and Procedures”

#1. ONLINE REPORTING COMPLIANCE: The OPS Network includes an easy to use Internal Affairs reporting and tracking component (this Internal Affairs Component is located in your Community Interface Center) that allows all OPS Partner Agencies to easily comply with the online reporting portion of the policy. OPS strongly recommends this component be activated and properly monitored and maintained.

#2. IA FACT SHEET/BROCHURE COMPLIANCE: To assist all agencies with complying with this requirement, each agency will find a PDF called “New Jersey Law Enforcement Internal Affairs Basic Information Guide” available below. This one page guide was created by Online Policing Solutions for all of its OPS Partner Agencies. This guide provides basic internal affairs information to the reader. Once downloaded, there are two fillable fields at the bottom of the PDF that allows the OPS Partner Agency to place their agency name and website on the same. This guide can be printed for use at the agency, as well as be placed on each agencies Community Interface.

Download the “New Jersey Law Enforcement Internal Affairs Basic Information Guide” HERE.

Click Image to View Example

ONLINE REPORTING METHOD, DOCUMENTS AND GUIDANCE COMPLIANCE: The OPS Network allows all OPS Partner Agencies to easily create a webpage to share instructions and public documents via the Community Interface. By following the below instructions, your agency will complete a page that, combined with the above steps, will complete the NJ OAG online Internal Affairs compliance process.

Step 1. Download the 22 forms listed below and change the fillable fields in the “Internal Affairs Informational Sheets” for each language to reflect your agency information.

Step 2. In the OPS public documents component, create a public documents category called INTERNAL AFFAIRS COMPLAINT FORMS AND INFORMATIONAL SHEETS.

Step 3. Upload all of these forms to your public documents page, under the newly created category, utilizing the Pubic Documents component.

Step 4. From you OPS Community Interface Management Console, create a new “Community” page and add the title: “INTERNAL AFFAIRS REPORTING”

Step 5. Copy and paste the below text into the body of the page. Once pasted in place, add a hyper-link called “/documents” to the text VIEW ALL INTERNAL AFFAIRS COMPLAINT FORMS AND INFORMATIONAL SHEETS

Step 6. In the body text you just pasted, change your agency address for the “mail to” section and change the email for the “email to” section.

Step 7. In the body text you just pasted, create a hyperlink with the link “/ia” to the CLICK HERE TO FILE AN INTERNAL AFFAIRS COMPLAINT ONLINE text.

Step 8. Copy and paste the following text into the Homepage Text Summary: “Information, procedures and forms for filing a report of agency misconduct.”

Step 9. Add your desired Community Page Header Image and Preview Image for Homepage

Step 10. Make any desired changes, additions and adjustments (i.e: a link to your OPS online reporting tool, the IA Basic Overview Brochure, your agency’a internal affairs email address, etc..) then click “Create” to publish the page.

Your page will be published onto your agency’s Community Interface and your agency is now NJOAG IA Compliant!!!

⤵️ Copy and Paste ALL TEXT BELOW THE LINE, up until the text that says STOP COPY ABOVE THIS TEXT, into the body of your INTERNAL AFFAIRS REPORTING page:

The members of this agency are committed to providing law enforcement services that are fair, effective, and impartially applied. It is in the best interests of everyone that your complaint about the performance of an individual officer is resolved fairly and promptly. Our agency has formal procedures for investigating your complaint. These procedures are designed to ensure fairness and protect the rights of both citizens and law enforcement officers:

1. Reports or Complaints of officer/employee misconduct must be accepted from any person, including anonymous sources, at any time.
2. Complaints shall be accepted regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or immigration status of the complaining party.
3. Your complaint will be sent to a superior officer or a specially trained internal affairs officer who will conduct a thorough and objective investigation.
4. You might be asked to help in the investigation by giving a detailed statement about what happened or providing other important information or documents.
5. All complaints against law enforcement officers are thoroughly investigated. You will be kept informed of the status of the investigation and its ultimate outcome, if requested, and you will provide contact information. The exact discipline imposed is confidential, but you will be advised of the ultimate finding, namely:
  - - Sustained: A preponderance of the evidence shows an officer violated any law; regulation; directive, guideline, policy, or procedure issued by the Attorney General or County Prosecutor; agency protocol; standing operating procedure; rule; or training.
    - Unfounded: A preponderance of the evidence shows that the alleged misconduct did not occur.
    - Exonerated: A preponderance of the evidence shows the alleged conduct did occur but did not violate any law; regulation; directive, guideline, policy, or procedure issued by the Attorney General or County Prosecutor; agency protocol; standing operating procedure; rule; or training.
    - Not Sustained: The investigation failed to disclose sufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the allegation.
    - If our investigation shows that a crime might have been committed, the county prosecutor will be notified. You might be asked to testify in court.
    - If our investigation results in an officer being charged with a violation of department rules, you might be asked to testify in a departmental hearing.
    - If our investigation shows that the complaint is unfounded or that the officer acted properly, the matter will be closed.
    - Internal affairs investigations are confidential, and all disciplinary hearings shall be closed to the public unless the defendant officer requests an open hearing.