NEW JERSEY (WABC) — Records obtained by 7 On Your Side Investigates show a handful of officers in Monmouth County, New Jersey used racial slurs and bigoted comments in text messages to each other.
The messages came to light by accident. The officers weren’t initially being investigated for racist behavior. Rather, for a police-involved car crash that led to the collection of cell phone data.
Eyewitness News has independently verified the authenticity of the messages from multiple sources.
The NAACP is questioning whether more should’ve been done to investigate and make the findings public.
“We have to police without bias, we have to serve all communities equally,” said Harrison Dillard, President of the NAACP in Hunterdon County.
As both a veteran law enforcement officer of 28 years and president of the NAACP in Hunterdon County, Dillard says police need to be policed to ensure only the best are allowed to wear the badge.
“We can’t see the heart of everybody and every officer as they’re going through the hiring process,” Dillard said. “These officers showed us their hearts, they showed us what they think of people of color.”
One officer from the Marlboro Police Department used a derogatory remark to refer to a member of the Black community.
“Next I’ll be cleaning the floors or some sh__ like I’m the f_______ hired ni____ or something,” he said in a text.
In another message, a derogatory remark was made about a member of the Asian community.
“Look at that g__k,” the message said.
A different officer from Freehold Township reportedly texted racial slurs about the Black community and a separate officer from the same department texted: “I’m not racist. I hate everyone. If anything, Jews is one ‘race’ I hate. I don’t have a problem with Black people. They make there own problems and names.”
“One message that stands out the most is the one that says I hate ‘n’ words,” Dillard said. “It doesn’t say ‘n’ words, it says the word. There’s no ambiguity there.”
Dillard and multiple members of the NAACP said they met with the Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago back in December of 2022 . To this day, they don’t know what happened after that.
Both the Marlboro and Freehold police departments post disciplinary actions online. It shows one Marlboro officer involved was fired for the text he made. There’s no record of any formal disciplinary action against the other three officers.
Eyewitness News has confirmed one of the Marlboro officers is still on the job. Both officers involved from Freehold Township resigned on the same day from the department in good standing.
The NAACP said it’s not just about whether the officers were disciplined but whether their previous on-duty interactions have been investigated.
“Every officer should have been held accountable and their records should have been reviewed to see if they have disparately arrested people, pulled people over, using force against people,” Dillard said. “Whatever they did in their line of duty should have been examined.”
7 On Your Side asked former Southern District of New York Prosecutor David Miller, to review the pages of text messages. His biggest concern; the fairness of the judicial process.
“If we rely sometimes on officers to swear out affidavits as to facts that occurred in support of an arrest or in support of a search warrant, if now those officers credibility could be challenged and they’re the sole source of the facts, there could be questions about the integrity of the process,” Miller said.
Eyewitness News reached out to the Monmouth County Prosecutor with questions about the process and investigation. The prosecutor sent a statement:
“Due to the confidentiality of internal affairs investigations pursuant to the Attorney General’s Internal Affairs Policies and Procedures (IAPP), I cannot conduct any on-camera interview or comment on any investigation(s) that may or may not have been conducted by an internal affairs agency. Similarly, I cannot publicly discuss what, if anything, has occurred in such investigation(s) since I was appointed as County Prosecutor in any specific matter. While I am not able to publicly discuss facts related to specific Internal Affairs matters, I can confirm that when this Office is confronted with evidence of racism displayed by police officers, such allegations are taken extremely seriously and investigated in a thorough manner. This Office is dedicated to ensuring that those who reside in or visit Monmouth County, are policed only by law enforcement officers who treat everyone they encounter in a fair, unbiased, and impartial manner. Moreover, if allegations of conduct rise to the level of criminality, the appropriate charges are lodged and those individuals are prosecuted. If no crime has occurred, an internal affairs investigation is commenced in order to determine if administrative findings can be established. Rest assured, this is the process that takes place when faced with any and all allegations.”
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