Allegation category

Improper Search

Rights / integrity tier, as grouped by this site

New Jersey law enforcement agencies recorded 1,395 allegations in this category between 2021 and 2025, the 13th-most most reported of the 31 categories and 1.7% 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

1,395

2021 to 2025

Agencies reporting

212

At least one in the period

Reported in 2025

256

246 in 2021

By year

Improper Search allegations reported, 2021 to 2025
2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
246	255	342	296	256

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 Search allegations
Agency	County	Allegations	Share of its own
Camden Police Department	Camden	409	6.0%
Newark Police Department	Essex	183	3.3%
Trenton Police Department	Mercer	78	7.3%
Jersey City Police Department	Hudson	34	1.5%
Elizabeth Police Department	Union	33	4.2%
New Jersey State Police	State	31	0.7%
Orange Police Department	Essex	24	4.9%
Department Of Corrections	State	17	0.2%
Gloucester Township Police Department	Camden	15	3.0%
Passaic County Sheriff's Department	Passaic	15	5.1%
Paterson Police Department	Passaic	15	1.1%
Haddon Township Police Department	Camden	12	9.2%
Bayonne Police Department	Hudson	11	2.5%
Lakewood Police Department	Ocean	11	5.2%
Lumberton Township Police Department	Burlington	11	20.8%
Cherry Hill Township Police Department	Camden	9	3.1%
Galloway Township Police Department	Atlantic	9	6.4%
Barnegat Township Police Department	Ocean	8	7.1%
Carteret Police Department	Middlesex	8	5.1%
Irvington Police Department	Essex	8	0.7%
Rahway Police Department	Union	8	2.0%
Willingboro Police Department	Burlington	8	6.1%
Cranford Police Department	Union	7	6.3%
Montclair Police Department	Essex	7	3.5%
Barrington Police Department	Camden	6	18.2%

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 Search is the largest share of allegations
Agency	Share	This category	All allegations
Lumberton Township Police Department	20.8%	11	53
Delran Township Police Department	11.8%	6	51
Haddon Township Police Department	9.2%	12	131
Washington Township Police Department	7.8%	4	51
Randolph Township Police Department	7.5%	6	80
Trenton Police Department	7.3%	78	1,070
East Brunswick Township Police Department	7.1%	4	56
Barnegat Township Police Department	7.1%	8	113
East Greenwich Township Police Department	6.6%	4	61
Galloway Township Police Department	6.4%	9	141
Cranford Police Department	6.3%	7	111
Willingboro Police Department	6.1%	8	132
Camden Police Department	6.0%	409	6,799
South River Police Department	5.7%	5	87
Garfield Police Department	5.6%	3	54

By county

Improper Search allegations by county
County	Allegations
Camden	486
Essex	238
Mercer	88
Union	71
Hudson	62
Middlesex	52
Monmouth	52
Bergen	48
Passaic	47
Burlington	41
Morris	37
Ocean	26
Atlantic	26
Gloucester	18
Somerset	12
Hunterdon	8
Cape May	8
Warren	7
Sussex	5
Salem	4
Cumberland	4

By year

Where it is reported most

Where it makes up the largest share

By county

Other categories