Prosecutor looks into alleged overtime padding by NJ Transit police
The prosecutor's professional standards bureau is conducting the probe, said spokeswoman Carmen Martin. She did not provide more detail.
NorthJersey.com exclusively reported in August that NJ Transit's internal affairs department was investigating a number of patrolmen, sergeants and lieutenants from the Newark Penn division for allegedly no-show court appearances and falsifying police reports in order to gain more overtime pay.
The alleged scheme largely took place in 2021, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation who works at NJ Transit's Police Department and spoke to NorthJersey.com last summer.The person's name was withheld because they were not authorized to speak to the media about the investigation.
In January, NorthJersey.com requested the summary and findings report from the internal affairs investigation, which can be made public in certain circumstances thanks to a 2022 directive authored by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin
Antoinette Lejano, of NJ Transit's Open Public Records unit, denied the request on March 4, saying "there is no applicable law or court order mandating release of the requested records, nor has the County Prosecutor or Attorney General directed release of the requested records."
When asked if the Attorney General's office or Essex County Prosecutor's Office would direct the release of the records, both responded that they do not get involved in the outcome of Open Public Records Act requests at an outside agency. However, the request was not filed under OPRA, but rather the common law right of access.
On Friday, NorthJersey.com's parent company, Gannett, sued NJ Transit for the records.
Stuart Alterman, an attorney for the NJ Transit Policemen's Benevolent Association, said the allegations are "categorically denied." Alterman said there are some "matters that are outstanding," but did not know about the Essex County investigation.
"These officers have already voluntarily cooperated with transit authorities and provided statements," Alterman said. "I can tell you with extreme certainty there were no violations of policy, procedure or any laws conducted by any of the police officers that are involved in this case."
Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesman, declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Alleged overtime padding by NJ Transit police investigated
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