Allegation category

Improper Arrest

Rights / integrity tier, as grouped by this site

New Jersey law enforcement agencies recorded 2,723 allegations in this category between 2021 and 2025, the 8th-most most reported of the 31 categories and 3.4% of all allegations statewide.

These are complaints, not findings. A complaint is recorded when somebody makes it, whether or not an investigation later sustained it, so nothing on this page establishes that any officer did anything.

Allegations

2,723

2021 to 2025

Agencies reporting

275

At least one in the period

Reported in 2025

596

349 in 2021

By year

Improper Arrest allegations reported, 2021 to 2025
2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
349	484	643	651	596

Year-to-year movement reflects both complaint volume and reporting practice. The number of agencies filing a report changes each year, and a category can grow simply because more departments began classifying complaints into it.

Where it is reported most

Highest raw counts. Large departments appear here largely because they are large.

Agencies reporting the most Improper Arrest allegations
Agency	County	Allegations	Share of its own
Camden Police Department	Camden	897	13.2%
Newark Police Department	Essex	170	3.1%
New Jersey State Police	State	89	2.0%
Jersey City Police Department	Hudson	83	3.6%
Trenton Police Department	Mercer	79	7.4%
Paterson Police Department	Passaic	66	5.0%
Edison Township Police Department	Middlesex	38	15.1%
Elizabeth Police Department	Union	34	4.3%
New Jersey Transit Police	State	32	3.6%
Pennsauken Township Police Department	Camden	28	7.0%
Gloucester Township Police Department	Camden	25	5.0%
Nutley Police Department	Essex	24	6.2%
East Orange Police Department	Essex	23	1.2%
Neptune Township Police Department	Monmouth	23	11.5%
Haddon Township Police Department	Camden	22	16.8%
Rutgers University Police Department	State	21	5.1%
Rahway Police Department	Union	19	4.7%
Passaic Police Department	Passaic	18	4.4%
Ewing Township Police Department	Mercer	16	9.4%
Millville Police Department	Cumberland	16	4.4%
Woodbridge Township Police Department	Middlesex	16	4.1%
Burlington Township Police Department	Burlington	15	15.6%
Linden Police Department	Union	15	3.4%
Orange Police Department	Essex	15	3.0%
Clifton Police Department	Passaic	14	4.4%

AnalysisThis site's calculation: each agency's count in this category divided by its own total allegations. Agencies reporting fewer than 50 allegations overall are excluded, because a handful of complaints produces a meaningless percentage.

A high share means this category is unusually prominent in what that agency records. It can reflect what happens there, or how that agency classifies complaints.

Agencies where Improper Arrest is the largest share of allegations
Agency	Share	This category	All allegations
Passaic County Prosecutor's Office	22.4%	13	58
Haddon Township Police Department	16.8%	22	131
Burlington Township Police Department	15.6%	15	96
Seaside Heights Police Department	15.3%	11	72
Edison Township Police Department	15.1%	38	251
West Deptford Township Police Department	15.0%	9	60
Somerset County Prosecutor's Office	14.0%	8	57
Roxbury Township Police Department	13.3%	8	60
Camden Police Department	13.2%	897	6,799
Hanover Township Police Department	12.4%	11	89
Keyport Police Department	12.0%	6	50
Bordentown Township Police Department	11.5%	6	52
Barnegat Township Police Department	11.5%	13	113
Neptune Township Police Department	11.5%	23	200
Harrison Police Department	11.4%	9	79

By county

Improper Arrest allegations by county
County	Allegations
Camden	1,037
Essex	295
Hudson	162
Passaic	130
Monmouth	119
Union	116
Mercer	115
Middlesex	108
Bergen	80
Ocean	76
Burlington	65
Morris	55
Atlantic	51
Gloucester	37
Somerset	35
Cape May	35
Cumberland	25
Sussex	13
Hunterdon	10
Warren	8
Salem	6

By year

Where it is reported most

Where it makes up the largest share

By county

Other categories