On 7/10/25, Senior Correctional Police Officer Dennis Howard of Garden State Youth Correctional Facility was involved in a physical altercation with an incarcerated person who held his hands out of the food port and remained non-compliant. Howard and other custody staff used physical contact to return the person's hands, and the Use of Force subcommittee found the force reasonable and appropriate. Howard admitted he did not author a custody report and failed to contact a supervisor as required. He signed a settlement agreement for a 15-day suspension on 10/2/25.
(a) General Causes (6) a public employee (7) (12) HRB 84-17
as amended B2-
loafing
idleness or willful failure to devote attention to tasks which could result in danger to persons or property. B8- Serious mistake due to carelessness which may result in danger and/or injury to persons or property. C11- an employee. D9- Failure to report injury
abuse
or accident involving incarcerated persons
residents
patients
or clients. E1- Violation of a rule
regulation
policy
procedure
order or administrative decision.
Separated while IA pending
No
Synopsis as reported by the agency
On 7/10/25, Garden State Youth Correctional Facility’s Senior Correctional Police Officer (SCPO) Dennis Howard was involved in a physical altercation with an incarcerated person. After the incarcerated person received his canteen, he stuck his hands out of the food port and held them there. Despite instructions to put his hand back into the food port, the incarcerated person remained non-compliant. SCPO Howard and other custody staff members attempted to gain compliance of the incarcerated person by utilizing physical contact to put the incarcerated person’s hands back into the food port. The New Jersey Department of Correction’s (NJDOC) Use of Force (UOF) subcommittee reviewed the incident and found force to be reasonable and appropriate. SCPO Howard admitted that he did not author a custody report and failed to contact a supervisor about the incident as required by NJDOC UOF policies. SCPO Howard signed a settlement agreement for a 15-day suspension on 10/2/25.
Sustained charge(s): NJAC 4a:2-2.3(a) General Causes (1) Incompetency, inefficiency or failure to perform duties (6) Conduct unbecoming a public employee (7)…
same agency · same year · similar charge category · similar sanction outcome
Sustained charge(s): N.J.A.C.4A:2-2.3(a) General Causes (6) Conduct unbecoming a public employee (12) Other Sufficient Cause HRB 84-17, as amended B2 - Neglect…
same agency · same year · similar charge category · similar sanction outcome
Sustained charge(s): N.J.A.C.4A:2-2.3(a) General Causes (6) Conduct unbecoming a public employee (7) Neglect of duty (12) Other Sufficient Cause HRB 84-17, as…
same agency · same year · similar charge category · similar sanction outcome
Sustained charge(s): NJAC 4a:2-2.3(a) General Causes (1) Incompetency, inefficiency or failure to perform duties (6) Conduct unbecoming a public employee (7)…
same agency · same year · similar charge category · similar sanction outcome
Sustained charge(s): N. J.A.C. 4A:2-2.3(a) General Causes (7) Neglect of duty (12) Other Sufficient Cause HRB 84-17, as amended B2 - Neglect of duty, loafing,…
same agency · same year · similar charge category · similar sanction outcome
Other officers at Department Of Corrections
433 other named officers with reported major discipline records at this agency. Major discipline is final and post-appeal, as reported by the agency.
No confident pension match found. This site links a pension record to a named officer only when the name and the exact employing agency both match a New Jersey Treasury record. Where that bar is not met, nothing is shown rather than a guess. See methodology for how these matches are made and what is withheld.
Cite this page
Police Transparency NJ, "Dennis Howard, Department Of Corrections," last updated 2026-09-28, https://policetransparencynj.com/officers/dennis-howard-dept-of-corrections/. Source records: New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.
Questions and answers
What is a summary of Dennis Howard's major discipline record?
On 7/10/25, Senior Correctional Police Officer Dennis Howard of Garden State Youth Correctional Facility was involved in a physical altercation with an incarcerated person who held his hands out of the food port and remained non-compliant. Howard and other custody staff used physical contact to return the person's hands, and the Use of Force subcommittee found the force reasonable and appropriate. Howard admitted he did not author a custody report and failed to contact a supervisor as required. He signed a settlement agreement for a 15-day suspension on 10/2/25.
What is Dennis Howard's major discipline record at Department Of Corrections?
Dennis Howard has one major discipline record at Department Of Corrections in the New Jersey Attorney General's 2020-2025 releases, from 2025. These are final, adjudicated actions, not allegations.
How large is Department Of Corrections, the department Dennis Howard worked for?
Department Of Corrections reported 4,741 sworn officers to the FBI for 2025. This is department-level context from the FBI's Law Enforcement Employees census, not a statement about Dennis Howard individually.
Sources
[1]New Jersey Major Discipline Data, 2020-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Major Discipline Data", row 647. Snapshot retrieved 2026-07-03. ↩
[2]FBI Law Enforcement Employees (LEE), New Jersey subset. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Row 8641. Derived from the public Law Enforcement Employees (LEE) / Police Employee Data dataset (1960-2025), https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/. ↩