On February 4, 2025, Senior Correctional Police Officer Exsel Velez was assigned to New Jersey State Prison's 7UP, Unit A, and for several hours was aware of unsecured 7 Wing gates while not running showers or kiosks as ordered, the Department of Corrections reported. Velez also knew of an incarcerated person's threats against staff and did not report them. When incarcerated persons on 10-tier lit several fires, there was a 4-minute delay before he acted. He signed a settlement agreement for a 15-day suspension.
(a) General Causes (6) a public employee (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 B6 - Failure or excessive delay on carrying out an order which may result in danger to persons or property B8 - Serious mistake due to carelessness which may result in danger and/or injury to person or property B9 - Incompetence or C9 - : Intentional disobedience or refusal to accept order
assaulting or resisting authority
disrespect or use of insulting or abusive language to a supervisor C11 - an employee D1 - Negligence in performing duty resulting in injury to persons or damage to property D7 - Violation of administrative procedures and/or regulations involving safety and security E1 - Violation of a rule
regulation
policy
procedure
order or administrative decision.
Separated while IA pending
No
Synopsis as reported by the agency
On 2/4/25, Senior Correctional Police Officer (SCPO) Exsel Velez was assigned to New Jersey State Prison's 7UP, Unit A. An investigation revealed that for several hours SCPO Velez was aware of unsecured 7 Wing gates. He did not run showers or kiosks although ordered by his supervisors to do so. On his assigned unit, there was an unsupervised General Population Porter that had access to unsecured tiers. SCPO Velez was aware of an incarcerated person's threats against staff and did not report these threats to his supervisor. Due to his lack of attention, the incarcerated persons on 10-tier were able to erect a barrier and light several fires. Furthermore, when SCPO Velez discovered the fire, there was a 4-minute delay before he acted and he failed to call a Code 21. The investigation further revealed that SCPO Velez did not complete his Restorative Housing Unit security checks as outlined in New Jersey Department of Corrections policies. He ignored a memo from the Major's office that provided updated 7 Wing staffing and operating guidelines. SCPO Velez signed a settlement agreement on 4/8/25, for a 15-day suspension.
Similar records
AnalysisComputed by this site from shared agency, year, charge category, and sanction outcome. Not a legal or factual equivalence.
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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…
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Sustained charge(s): N.J.A.C.4A:2-2.3(a) General Causes (12) Other sufficient cause HRB 84-17, as amended A9- Refusal or failure to work overtime without a…
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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.
Questions and answers
What is a summary of Exsel Velez's major discipline record?
On February 4, 2025, Senior Correctional Police Officer Exsel Velez was assigned to New Jersey State Prison's 7UP, Unit A, and for several hours was aware of unsecured 7 Wing gates while not running showers or kiosks as ordered, the Department of Corrections reported. Velez also knew of an incarcerated person's threats against staff and did not report them. When incarcerated persons on 10-tier lit several fires, there was a 4-minute delay before he acted. He signed a settlement agreement for a 15-day suspension.
What is Exsel Velez's major discipline record at Department Of Corrections?
Exsel Velez 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 Exsel Velez 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 Exsel Velez individually.
Sources
[1]New Jersey Major Discipline Data, 2020-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Major Discipline Data", row 750. 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/. ↩