Professional Standards

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Collingswood Police Department internal affairs unit

The Collingswood Police Department is committed to providing law enforcement services that are fair, effective, and impartially applied.  Our police officers are held to the highest standards of conduct and are expected to respect the rights of all citizens.  Officers’ adherence to these standards, motivated by a moral and professional obligation to perform their job to the best of their ability, is the ultimate objective of Collingswood Police Department. The Collingswood Police Department is committed to ensuring the integrity of the Department and its employees by investigating all allegations of employee misconduct from any source, outside or inside the Department including third-party and anonymous complaints.  The Internal Affairs Unit reports directly to the Chief of Police and is charged with administering the investigative and disciplinary processes for the Collingswood Police Department. The primary mission of the Internal Affairs Unit is to assure that the members of the Collingswood Police meet the highest standards of integrity and ethical performance.

To help maintain integrity, our department has gone to great lengths to ensure accessibility to our Internal Affairs Unit by as many means possible, to include telephone, fax, mail, email, and walk-in access.

  • Phone: 856-854-1901 x201
  • Fax: 856-854-1867
  • Email:  wlyons@collingswood.com
  • In person/Mail: Collingswood Public Safety Building, 434 Haddon Ave, Collingswood, NJ, 08108


INTERNAL AFFAIRS ANNUAL REPORTS

Annual Internal Affairs Public Statistics 2022

Annual Internal Affairs Public Statistics 2021

INTERNAL AFFAIRS MAJOR ANNUAL DISCIPLINE REPORTS

Annual Major Discipline Report 2022     

Annual Major Discipline Report 2021

POLICIES AND FORMS

Body Worn Cameras

Body Worn Cameras Press Release

Law Enforcement Drug Testing 

Drug Screening Policy             

Early Intervention Program  

Dealing with the Immigrant Population

Internal Affairs Policy

Recruitment Plan  

Citizen Complaint Informational Forms:

English     Arabic     Chinese     Haitian     Hindi     Korean     Polish     Portuguese     Spanish     Tagalog     Vietnamese

Citizen Internal Affairs Complaint Form:

English     Arabic     Chinese     Haitian     Hindi     Korean     Polish     Portuguese     Spanish     Tagalog     Vietnamese

Internal Affairs Citizen Complaint Intake Checklist (English/Spanish)

The 4 A’s of Internal Affairs:

  1. ANYONE – Any individual must be permitted to file an Internal Affairs complaint. It can be a victim, a friend of the victim, a parent, a juvenile (with or without parents), an illegal alien (we are not permitted to ask about immigration status) or it can be anonymous. ANYONE means ANYONE.
  2. ANY WAY – An Internal Affairs complaint can be filed in ANY WAY. It could be filed by phone, by letter, written on a napkin, in person… Whatever is best for the person filing. We cannot make someone show up in person or swear the statement to initiate the complaint process.
  3. ANY TIME – A complaint must be taken regardless of the hour or day of the week. At no time should a complaint be told to return later, even if the IA officer is unavailable. ANY law enforcement officer or civilian employee must take a complaint.
  4. ANYTHING – As long as a complaint has sufficient factual information, the complaint must be investigated. It is predicated upon the victim’s view of the situation.
Law enforcement must avoid any language that is designed to dissuade somebody from filing a complaint.

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING AN INTERNAL AFFAIRS INVESTIGATION

  1. Your Complaint will be sent to a superior officer or a specially trained internal affairs investigator who will conduct a thorough and objective investigation.
  2. You might be asked to help in the investigation by giving a detailed statement about what happened or providing other important information.
  3. All complaints against law enforcement officers are thoroughly investigated. You will be advised in writing of the outcome.
  4. If our investigation shows that a crime might have been committed, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office will be notified.  You may be asked to testify in court.
  5. If our investigation results in an officer being charged with a violation of department rules or regulations, you may be asked to testify in a departmental hearing.
  6. If our investigation shows that the complaint is unfounded or that the officer acted properly, the matter will be closed.
  7. All disciplinary hearings shall be closed to the public unless the defendant officer requests an open hearing.

N.J.S. 2C:28-3 Unsworn Falsification to Authorities states, "A person commits a crime of the fourth degree if he makes a written false statement which he does not believe to be true, on or pursuant to a form bearing notice, authorized by law, to the affect that false statements made therein are punishable.” 

Those who provide false information to members of the Internal Affairs Unit will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.