Department profile · Passaic County
Hawthorne Police Department
Reported as: Hawthorne PDMunicipal police
Jurisdiction context
Not a civil service jurisdiction
This department is not among the NJCSC Appendix A jurisdictions, so major discipline here follows a different statutory track (generally N.J.S.A. 40A:14), with appeals that usually go to the Superior Court rather than the Civil Service Commission.
See the context on non-civil-service departments.
Reflects the NJCSC Appendix A roster as of 2026-07-04. Context only, not legal advice.
In brief
The Hawthorne Police Department is a municipal police agency in Passaic County. In 2025 it reported 16 sworn officers and 20 internal affairs investigations. Its rate of 125 investigations per 100 officers was close to the 125.6 median for municipal police. Of the 20 investigations detailed for 2025, 7 recorded sustained complaints. The most common allegations were Other Departmental Rule Violation and Differential Treatment.
No major discipline records appear in the 2020-2025 releases, and the absence of records is not a finding. On the report card the department received an A, which places it at the 13th percentile of its peer group of 361 agencies with 1-14 officers. A larger internal affairs caseload can point to more misconduct or to a stronger reporting culture.
Written by this site strictly from the figures on this page; every number is cited below.
Sworn officers, 2025
16[1]
IA investigations, 2025
20[1]
Incidents, 2025
20[1]
Major discipline records
0
All years, 2020-2025
Internal affairs investigations by year
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4 | 13 | 21 | 20 |
Complaint mix, 2025
Most serious allegation per investigation, as categorized by the reporting agency. Allegations are not findings: of 20 investigations, 7 reported one or more sustained complaints. Officer-level rows list 20 officers involved.[7]
Most serious allegation
| Other Departmental Rule Violation | 8 |
|---|---|
| not provided | 5 |
| Differential Treatment | 3 |
| Loss Of Or Failure To Safeguard Agency Propert | 2 |
| Excessive Force | 2 |
Internal disposition
| Not Sustained | 9 |
|---|---|
| Sustained | 6 |
| not provided | 5 |
Against peers, 2025
| Hawthorne PD | 125.0 |
|---|---|
| County median, municipal police (18) | 123.2 |
| NJ median, municipal police (447) | 125.6 |
Investigations per 100 sworn officers, using the officer counts each agency reported for 2025. A higher number is ambiguous on its own: it can reflect more misconduct, or a stronger internal reporting culture. Medians are computed within the same agency type only.
Major discipline records
No major discipline records appear for this agency in the 2020-2025 releases. Absence of records is not a finding; see the methodology for what this data does and does not cover.
Questions and answers
- How many internal affairs investigations did Hawthorne Police Department report in 2025?
- Hawthorne Police Department reported 20 internal affairs investigations in 2025, according to New Jersey Attorney General data. It reported 16 sworn officers that year.
- How many major discipline records does Hawthorne Police Department have?
- No major discipline records appear for Hawthorne Police Department in the Attorney General's 2020-2025 releases. Absence of records is not a finding; discipline is listed only after all appeals conclude.
Sources
- [1]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 2447. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [2]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 409. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [3]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 1430. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [4]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 1937. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [5]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 911. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [6]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 2447. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [7]New Jersey Internal Affairs Investigations, 2024-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 1. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. Aggregated from every Hawthorne PD row for 2025; row 1 is the header. ↩