CITIZEN RIGHTS INTERNAL AFFAIRS INVESTIGATIONS GUIDELINES
 

 

The members of the Mendham Borough Police Department are committed to providing law enforcement services that are fair, effective, and impartially applied. It is in the best interests of everyone that a complaint about the performance of an individual employee or the agency in general be resolved fairly and promptly. The Mendham Borough Police Department has formal procedures for investigating these complaints. These procedures ensure fairness while also protecting the rights of both civilians and employees.  Your complaint will be sent to either a superior officer or specially trained internal affairs officer who will conduct a thorough and objective investigation.  You will be asked to help in the investigation by giving a detailed statement about what happened or by providing other important information.  All complaints against employees or the agency in general are thoroughly investigated. You will be advised in writing of the outcome of the investigation.  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 employee 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 employee acted properly, the matter will be closed.  All disciplinary hearings shall be closed to the public unless the defendant officer requests an open hearing. You may elect to either telephone the Internal Affairs Supervisor, Lt. Joseph Pirillo, at 973-543-2527 ext. 1845 or email him at pirillo@mendhamnj.org with any additional information or questions concerning the case.

All complaints of officer misconduct shall be accepted from all persons who wish to file a complaint regardless of the hour or day of the week. Anyone, including anonymous sources, juveniles, undocumented persons, and persons in police custody may file a complaint at any time, either in person, in writing, email, or over the telephone.

Address:

Mendham Borough Police Department

3 Cold Hill Road South

Mendham, NJ 07945

 

Phone: 973-543-2527

 

Email: internalaffairs@mendhamnj.org

 

The Internal Affairs Unit personnel should accept complaints if available. If the Internal Affairs Unit is unavailable, supervisory personnel should accept reports of officer misconduct. If a supervisor is unavailable, complaints should be accepted by any police officer. At no time should a complainant be told to return to file a report.

Citizens should be encouraged to submit their complaints in person as soon after the incident as possible. If the complainant cannot file the report in person, a department representative should visit the individual at their home, place of business, or other location in order to complete the report.

The Internal Affairs officer, supervisor, or other officer receiving the complaint will explain the department's disciplinary procedures to the person making the complaint. They should advise the complainant that they will be kept informed of the status of the complaint and its ultimate disposition. To best accomplish this, the agency shall prepare a Civilian Complaint Information Sheet for distribution to people who make complaints that includes information on the department's disciplinary process and what role the complainant can expect to play. 

The supervisor or other officer receiving the complaint shall complete the appropriate Internal Affairs Report Form. The report form should have adequate instructions for proper completion. The officer accepting the report should then have the complainant sign the completed form.

If the complaint is anonymous, the officer accepting the complaint should complete as much of the internal affairs report form as possible, given the information received.

Complaints might also be received from other law enforcement agencies, such as neighboring municipal police agencies or the county prosecutor. In such cases, the complaint should be forwarded to Internal Affairs for immediate handling.

If a complainant comes to a municipal police agency to make a complaint about another police agency, they should be referred to that agency. However, if the complainant expresses fear or concerns about making the complaint directly, he should be referred to that agency’s appropriate county prosecutor. The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Professional Standards Unit can be reached at 973-285-6200.

All complaints should be investigated, so long as the complaint contains sufficient factual information to warrant an investigation. In cases where the identity of the officer is unknown, the Internal Affairs Unit investigator should use all available means to determine proper identification. Each complaint shall be investigated to its logical conclusion.

 

FORMS AND REPORTS

MBPD INTERNAL AFFAIRS YEAR END REPORTS