Major discipline · 2025[1]
Terminated- Rank as reported
- Officer
- Sustained charge(s)
- (a)(6) a public employee;
- Separated while IA pending
- No
Plain-language summary (this site, from the cited record only)
Officer Jahdajha Sanders-Rodriguez was terminated by the Essex County Department of Corrections in 2025 on a sustained charge of conduct unbecoming a public employee. The record states that Sanders-Rodriguez observed an inmate-on-inmate assault on July 11, 2025, delayed reporting it, and submitted a false report. Investigators also found that she abandoned her assigned post while inmates and cell doors remained unsecured, and that she committed multiple policy violations during her one-year probationary period.
Synopsis as reported by the agency
The investigation determined that C.P.O. Sanders-Rodriguez observed an inmate-on-inmate assault on July 11, 2025, but failed to accurately document including a delay to report the incident, and submitting a false report. The investigation further found that she abandoned her assigned post while inmates and cell doors remained unsecured, thereby exposing the injured inmate to continued risk of harm. Additionally, during her one-year probationary period, she was found to have committed multiple violations of departmental policies, procedures, and rules and regulations from this incident.