Freehold Township cop admits to snooping in law-enforcement database
FREEHOLD - A Freehold Township police lieutenant pleaded guilty Friday to illegally accessing a law-enforcement database to snoop on someone for personal reasons, acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced.
Lt. John Todd, 58, a veteran of the department for 27 years, is scheduled to be sentenced before state Superior Court Judge Jill Grace O’Malley on Nov. 18 for the third-degree crime.
The incident occurred on Feb. 23, when Todd contacted a police dispatcher and asked for personal information about an individual from the Criminal Justice Information System, which is available for law enforcement use only, according to a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office.
Todd then passed the information he received to a third party who was not a law enforcement official, the statement said.
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Under the terms of a plea agreement, Todd is to permanently forfeit public employment in New Jersey, receive a term of probation and pay nearly $1,000 in fines, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
The Prosecutor’s Office did not say whether Todd also had to forfeit his police pension. According to public employee records, Todd received an annual salary of $168,116.
Mark Spivey, a spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office, referred a reporter’s question about the status of Todd’s pension to the New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits.
Melinda Caliendo, a spokeswoman for the state Department of the Treasury, which oversees the division, said they were looking into the matter.
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Todd is expected to enroll in New Jersey’s Pretrial Intervention Program, which provides first-time offenders with opportunities to account for their crimes other than through traditional prosecution, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
“Regardless of rank, there is no place within law enforcement for conduct such as this,” Linskey said. “The vast majority of officers countywide routinely serve the public with integrity and honor, risking their own lives on the job every single day. Actions such as those of Lt. Todd unfortunately make the work they do all the more challenging, particularly when it comes to gaining and maintaining the trust and respect of the citizens who depend on them.”
Had the matter led to an indictment and criminal trial, Todd could have faced up to five years in state prison and tens of thousands of dollars in fines, the statement said.
The case was assigned to Assistant Prosecutor Melanie Falco, director of the Professional Responsibility and Bias Crimes Unit.
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The Freehold Township Police Department is committed to ensuring the integrity of all interactions between its officers and the public it serves, said Police Chief George K. Baumann.
“We fully support the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and their efforts adjudicating a difficult situation in which one of my officers violated the law,” Baumann said. “This breach of trust is an isolated incident and does not define us or distract us from our primary goal of serving the residents and visitors of our community.”
Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ police misconduct: Freehold cop admits personal info access
