Bergen County Police Academy, closed for possible 'infractions,' likely to reopen in March
The Bergen County Police Academy is expected to reopen in March, several months after it was shut down for possible "infractions," County Executive James Tedesco said in Wednesday's State of the County address.
The New Jersey Police Training Commission suspended the academy's certification in December 2023 after it received two anonymous letters indicating that "possible serious rule infractions and Instructor Code of Conduct violations" had been committed.
The academy, which trains hundreds of future law enforcement officers every six months, typically holds classes in January and July.
The Bergen County Police Academy regained its certification in January after a new operating structure placed the academy under the county administration instead of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.
Tedesco said the administration got word from the Police Training Commission and that classes are expected to begin sometime in March. Police chiefs across the county have been notified and are preparing to send recruits.
"The county administration heard from the Police Training Commission last week, and I am excited to say that working together with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office and the County Police Chiefs Association, we can once again look forward to the start of the next Bergen County police class at the Law and Public Safety Institute," Tedesco said.
The academy is a unit of the county's Law and Public Safety Institute and operates as a partnership among Bergen County, its Prosecutor's Office and its Sheriff’s Office.
The offices of the prosecutor and sheriff will still have a presence as instructors when the next class begins.
Deputy County Administrator and retired Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg will now also serve as the academy's transitional director and will oversee the curriculum and operation.
What went wrong?
The New Jersey Police Training Commission received information regarding alleged rule violations occurring at the Bergen academy. It's unclear when, and what the rule violations include, but an item under "academy issues" in a Bergen County Police Academy administrative report appeared on the training commission's Dec. 6, 2023, meeting agenda.
A copy of the report obtained by NorthJersey.com, dated Nov. 21, 2023, noted that the agency received two anonymous letters in the previous week indicating that "possible serious rule infractions and Instructor Code of Conduct violations have been committed" by several academy command staff members and other instructors. The document did not specify what those offenses were.
"These allegations will be fully investigated with the findings being fully recorded and reported to the Police Training Commission," said the report, signed by field investigator Donald Robertella.
Robertella noted in the training commission report that he was assigned to monitor and inspect operations daily at the police academy beginning Oct. 16, 2023. The report said the investigator made a series of procedural recommendations to academy administrators, but "no unusual incidents were observed or reported" through Nov. 17.
"We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, and we immediately began an investigation into those allegations," Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said in a statement in February.
Staff Writer Kyle Morel contributed to this article
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen County Police Academy expected to reopen in March
