Department profile · Ocean County
Ocean County Sheriff's Department
Reported as: Ocean Co Sheriffs DeptCounty sheriff
Jurisdiction context
Civil service jurisdiction
Discipline at this department is governed by the Title 4A civil service framework, matched to Ocean County on the New Jersey Civil Service Commission roster.
Read how the process works or the Title 4A glossary. Browse NJCSNavigator’s civil service jurisdiction directory for the full local-jurisdiction roster.
Reflects the NJCSC Appendix A roster as of 2026-07-04. Context only, not legal advice.
Radio encryption
Ocean County Sheriff's Department encrypts its radio communications (P25 AES-256, all operations), according to PoliceRadioEncryption.com, as of 2026-03-06 (unverified).
In brief
Ocean County Sheriff's Department last reported internal affairs data for 2024, when it named 9 officers in internal affairs cases and reported 9 investigations. A per-officer investigation rate was not reported, so the department cannot be set against a county or agency-type median. None of the 9 investigations detailed for 2024 reported sustained complaints. Excessive Force was the leading allegation category with 5 cases, followed by Demeanor at 3 and Theft. Allegations are not findings.
No major discipline records appear in the 2020-2025 releases, and the absence of records is not a finding. The sheriff's department received a C on the report card, at the 50th percentile among 21 peers in the all sheriff agencies band, a medium-confidence grade.
Written by this site strictly from the figures on this page; every number is cited below.
Officers named in IA cases, 2024
9[1]
Distinct officers in that year's IA investigations, not total staffing
IA investigations, 2024
9[1]
Incidents, 2024
3[1]
Major discipline records
0
All years, 2020-2025
Staffing
Staffing data not available. The FBI's national staffing census (LEE) does not separately track county corrections facilities, sheriff's offices, or other county agencies in New Jersey -- only a single statewide Department of Corrections figure exists in that data. See the methodology for what FBI staffing data does and does not cover.
Military surplus equipment (1033 program)
In brief
Written by this site from the figures below.
Ocean County Sheriff's Department received 10 recorded line items between 2015 and 2019. The recorded value is $998,932 at original Department of Defense acquisition cost rather than current or market value, with $878,434 of it in categories this site classes as tactical. The largest categories by value were Combat, assault, and tactical vehicles, wheeled at $658,000, Trucks and truck tractors, wheeled at $144,629, and Passenger motor vehicles at $96,466. Those are transfers received, not a current inventory, and non-controlled items may be disposed of after one year. Receiving surplus equipment through the program is not misconduct, and this federal data is separate in origin from the Attorney General discipline records.
Surplus military equipment transferred to this agency under the Defense Department's 1033 program, as recorded by the Defense Logistics Agency.
Quantities received, by unit of issue: 53 items (Each). Units of issue differ (an item and a kit are not the same thing), so no single combined item count exists.
Top categories by recorded value
| Combat, assault, and tactical vehicles, wheeled | 658,000 tactical |
|---|---|
| Trucks and truck tractors, wheeled | 144,629 tactical |
| Passenger motor vehicles | 96,466 mundane |
| Tactical sets, kits, and outfits | 50,152 tactical |
| Rigid wall shelters | 24,032 mundane |
| Night vision equipment, emitted and reflected radiation | 16,490 tactical |
| Optical sighting and ranging equipment | 9,163 tactical |
Categories received: tactical vs mundane
Each category is classed tactical or mundane by this site's published classification of its Federal Supply Class. Much of what moves through the program is mundane surplus (tools, office and medical equipment); the tactical rows are what the Militarization Index below measures.
Every recorded transfer
Equipment class
Sort
Filtering only hides rows; every recorded transfer stays in the table below it.
Scroll sideways for more columns →
10 of 10 recorded transfers shown. Quantities are per unit of issue and are never summed across units. DEMIL code A: non-controlled property, may be disposed of after one year (so a listed item is not necessarily still held). Codes such as C, D, F, and Q: controlled property with federal return or demilitarization requirements.
No index is computed for this agency: there is no reliable per-officer basis (no high-confidence FBI staffing match to divide by). See the methodology.
Statewide totals, per-county rollups, and the top categories across all of New Jersey are on the 1033 program overview.
Internal affairs investigations by year
counts
| Category | counts |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 |
| 2022 | 7 |
| 2023 | 7 |
| 2024 | 9 |
Incidents
3 in 2024
| Year | counts |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2024 | 3 |
Computed by this site from the two figures the agency reports each year. Not a misconduct rate: it describes how an agency resolved what it investigated.
share of total · 4 reported years
| Year | share of total |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 28.571 |
| 2024 | 0 |
Statewide, 19.5 percent of investigations reported a sustained complaint in 2025. How dispositions break down statewide.
Complaint mix, 2024
Most serious allegation per investigation, as categorized by the reporting agency. Officer-level rows list 9 officers involved.
Most serious allegation
| Excessive Force | 5 |
|---|---|
| Demeanor | 3 |
| Theft | 1 |
Statewide category pages: Excessive Force · Demeanor · Theft
Internal disposition
| not provided | 6 |
|---|---|
| Sustained | 3 |
Allegations by year, 2021 to 2024
Other Departmental Rule Violation
12 of 39
| Year | counts |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 0 |
Demeanor
6 of 39
| Year | counts |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 |
Differential Treatment
6 of 39
| Year | counts |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2024 | 0 |
Excessive Force
5 of 39
| Year | counts |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 5 |
Other (4 categories)
10 of 39
| Year | counts |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2022 | 6 |
| 2023 | 2 |
| 2024 | 1 |
Report card
Grade C: Middle fifth of peers
On reported IA volume and discipline severity; see methodology
- Combined standing
- 50th percentile of 21 peers
- Confidence
- Medium confidence
- small agency; per-officer rates swing widely on a handful of cases
Where this agency falls among its peers
The actual spread of discipline severity across Ocean County Sheriff's Department's real peer group, not an assumed bell curve. If the group is skewed, it is shown skewed.
Peer group: County sheriff, all sheriff agencies (n=21)
| Range | Agencies |
|---|---|
| 0–50 | 6 |
| 50–100 | 8 |
| 100–150 | 6 |
| 150–200 | 0 |
| 200–250 | 1 |
Ocean County Sheriff's Department: 0 severity-weighted discipline per 100 IA-investigated officers: 10th percentile among County sheriff, all sheriff agencies (n=21).
How the grade is built
Three components, each a percentile within the peer group. The combined standing is their weighted mean, re-ranked among peers; the grade is the fifth of the peer group it lands in.
IA volumeweight 40%
119.2 investigations per 100 officers (multi-year mean)
Internal affairs investigations per 100 reported officers, averaged over the years where the agency reported both figures.
Discipline severityweight 40%
0.0 severity-weighted discipline per 100 officers, 2020-2025
Major discipline records weighted by sanction (termination 4, demotion 3, suspension 2, other 1) per 100 officers.
Allegation severityweight 20%
2.41 mean severity tier (1 low - 4 critical)
Mean severity tier of IA allegations across 2021-2025, using the published tier map; unknown values excluded.
What this grade can and can't tell you
- The underlying data is self-reported by agencies, one yearly snapshot at a time.
- Allegations are not findings; many complaints end unfounded, exonerated, or not sustained.
- There is no arrest or call-volume denominator in this data, so nothing here is a per-capita misconduct rate. A genuinely independent staffing-based rate, sourced from the FBI rather than this grade's own data, appears above when available. It is a different measurement, not a more accurate version of the grade.
- A higher internal affairs volume is ambiguous: it can indicate more misconduct, or a more robust oversight and reporting culture. The grade weighs it anyway, because volume is what the record offers; that choice is published, not hidden.
- The grade is one lens. The records it reads are on this page above.
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.
Fatal encounters recorded involving this agency
From the independent Fatal Encounters dataset, 2000-2021
In brief (written by this site from the records below)
A single record in the Fatal Encounters dataset names Ocean County Sheriff's Department, dated 2018. The dataset gives the force label, as recorded, as Gunshot. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced journalism project that documented deaths occurring during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits, deaths in police presence, and medical emergencies. A record is not a finding of fault against the agency or any officer, and it is not connected to the Attorney General discipline records elsewhere on this page. The project stopped collecting in December 2021, so the dataset is frozen and nothing after that date appears here.
Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset that documented deaths during police encounters nationwide from 2000 until its collection ended in December 2021.[3] It records all deaths that occurred during a police encounter of any kind: vehicle pursuits, suicides in police presence, and medical emergencies are included alongside uses of force. A record appears here because Ocean County Sheriff's Departmentis named in the record's as-reported agency field. A listing is not a misconduct finding, and it is not connected to the Attorney General discipline records above. See the methodology. Each record links to its own page with the full as-reported details.
- Edward M. Walsh
November 12, 2018 · Mantoloking · Highest level of force as recorded: Gunshot
Public records requests
No records-request history is shown for this department. OPRAmachine, an independent site that files and publishes Open Public Records Act requests, has no public body that confidently matches this department, so this site does not assert one. That does not mean nobody has requested records from it. (Checked against a snapshot of OPRAmachine taken 12 July 2026.) See the methodology for how the match is made.
Questions and answers
What is a summary of Ocean County Sheriff's Department's internal affairs and discipline record?
Ocean County Sheriff's Department last reported internal affairs data for 2024, when it named 9 officers in internal affairs cases and reported 9 investigations. A per-officer investigation rate was not reported, so the department cannot be set against a county or agency-type median. None of the 9 investigations detailed for 2024 reported sustained complaints. Excessive Force was the leading allegation category with 5 cases, followed by Demeanor at 3 and Theft. Allegations are not findings. No major discipline records appear in the 2020-2025 releases, and the absence of records is not a finding. The sheriff's department received a C on the report card, at the 50th percentile among 21 peers in the all sheriff agencies band, a medium-confidence grade.
How many internal affairs investigations did Ocean County Sheriff's Department report in 2024?
Ocean County Sheriff's Department reported 9 internal affairs investigations in 2024, according to New Jersey Attorney General data. 9 distinct officers were named in that year's IA investigations.
How many major discipline records does Ocean County Sheriff's Department have?
No major discipline records appear for Ocean County Sheriff's Department in the Attorney General's 2020-2025 releases. Absence of records is not a finding; discipline is listed only after all appeals conclude.
Does Ocean County Sheriff's Department encrypt its radio communications?
According to PoliceRadioEncryption.com, Ocean County Sheriff's Department encrypts all of its radio communications (P25 AES-256), as recorded on 2026-03-06. This site treats radio encryption as a transparency signal, which is analysis, not a figure from the discipline data.
What military surplus equipment has Ocean County Sheriff's Department received through the 1033 program?
Ocean County Sheriff's Department received 10 recorded line items of surplus military equipment through the Defense Department's 1033 program between 2015 and 2019, with a total recorded value of $998,932 (original DoD acquisition cost, not current or market value). The largest category by recorded value was: Combat, assault, and tactical vehicles, wheeled. Transfers are as recorded by the Defense Logistics Agency as of 2026-06-30; equipment acquired through the program is not necessarily still held.
What is the total recorded value of the 1033 equipment Ocean County Sheriff's Department received?
The surplus equipment recorded for Ocean County Sheriff's Department under the 1033 program totals $998,932 in original DoD acquisition cost, of which $878,434 is in categories this site classes as tactical (8 of 10 line items). These are original-cost figures at the time of transfer, not current or market value.
How many deaths during police encounters are recorded for Ocean County Sheriff's Department?
The independent Fatal Encounters dataset contains 1 record naming Ocean County Sheriff's Department, from 2018 through 2018. Fatal Encounters is a crowdsourced journalism project, not a government source, and it documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind. Each record links to a page showing it exactly as the project recorded it.
Sources
- [1]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 895. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [2]DoD 1033 Program transfers (LESO Public Information), New Jersey sheet. Defense Logistics Agency (U.S. Department of Defense). LESO Public Information: DISP_AllStatesAndTerritories, quarterly file as of 2026-06-30; recorded ship dates 1993-2026. Retrieved 2026-07-10. https://www.dla.mil/Disposition-Services/Offers/Law-Enforcement/Public-Information/ ↩
- [3]Fatal Encounters, New Jersey subset. Fatal Encounters (fatalencounters.org). Fatal Encounters national dataset (2000-2021); collection ended December 2021. Retrieved 2026-07-10. https://fatalencounters.org/ ↩
- [4]New Jersey county boundaries. New Jersey Office of Information Technology, Office of GIS (NJOGIS). NJ_Counties_3857 (FeatureServer layer 0), https://services2.arcgis.com/XVOqAjTOJ5P6ngMu/arcgis/rest/services/NJ_Counties_3857/FeatureServer/0. 2020 boundary delineation. Retrieved 2026-07-27. Boundaries are generalized for display. This data set is not a survey document and must not be used as such. The polygons do not represent legal boundaries.
- [5]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 394. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [6]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 1414. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [7]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 1920. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [8]New Jersey Internal Affairs Agency Totals, 2021-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 895. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. ↩
- [9]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 Ocean Co Sheriffs Dept row for 2024; row 1 is the header. ↩
- [10]New Jersey Internal Affairs Data Download, 2021-2023. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 1. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. Aggregated from every Ocean Co Sheriffs Dept row for 2021. ↩
- [11]New Jersey Internal Affairs Data Download, 2021-2023. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 1. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. Aggregated from every Ocean Co Sheriffs Dept row for 2022. ↩
- [12]New Jersey Internal Affairs Data Download, 2021-2023. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Sheet1", row 1. Snapshot retrieved 2026-06-09. Aggregated from every Ocean Co Sheriffs Dept row for 2023. ↩
- [13]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 Ocean Co Sheriffs Dept row for 2024. ↩