Prosecutor Places Monitor in EHC Police Dept.

By MICHELLE BRUNETTI POST
EGG HARBOR CITY — The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office has sent a monitor to observe and study the Egg Harbor City Police Department, Mayor Lisa Jiampetti confirmed Tuesday.

She said the action happened Monday, and no officers have been put on any type of leave.

A letter from Atlantic County Prosecutor James P. McClain to City Solicitor James J. Carroll, dated May 21, outlined the prosecutor's intention. It said he would send a Detective Lieutenant "to serve as an observer and monitor of the operation of the Egg Harbor City Police Department for a period of time beginning June 1, 2015 and ending December 31, 2015."

It said Chief John McColgan would assist the monitor with an audit of the department's evidence room, a manpower survey, a survey of police policies and procedures, an evaluation of the department's command structure, and an evaluation of the deployment of manpower.

The Prosecutor's Office released the letter Tuesday afternoon.

The letter stated the action is not a takeover of the department, "nor is it an expression of any lack of faith in Chief McColgan personally or in the department as a whole."

It said McColgan welcomed the assistance and will work cooperatively with the monitor.

McColgan did not return a call for comment.

"This step is simply in response to a number of requests from responsible parties to assist the city in making the EHCPD as efficient and effective an organization as possible," the prosecutor's letter said.

McClain said his office would issue a report at the end of the monitoring period.

Mayor Jiampetti said the department's morale had been very low when she first came into office in 2013, with a four-year plan for the department, but it wasn't well received.

"We did manage to accomplish a lot though, it seemed things were getting a little better," she said, of recent new hires and promotions in the department.

Morale has been affected by the case against city police officer Steven Hadley, 32, of Port Republic, who admitted using his position to have a sexual relationship with a confidential informant. He was charged in 2013 and received a five-year suspended sentence in 2014, after a guilty plea. The 10-year veteran officer, who was injured in a motor vehicle crash in 2013 and uses a wheelchair, also forfeited his right to public service and to his pension.

The department and unnamed other officers are facing a lawsuit from one of four women allegedly pressured into having sex with him. The suit alleges other officers knew of the abuse but did nothing to stop it.

Michelle Brunetti Post

609-272-7219

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/prosecutor-s-office-puts-monitor-in-egg-harbor-city-police/article_c3af886e-094b-11e5-a464-538941eec075.html 

4/29/16 Update
http://gadfly01.blogspot.com/2016/04/ehc-police-dept-update.html