Plain-language summary (this site, from the cited record only)
Detective Familia was arrested on December 5, 2018, and charged with fictitious reports for detailing a hand-to-hand drug transaction that he knew did not occur, the Passaic County Sheriffs Office reported. On January 16, 2024, he pled guilty to the amended charge of tampering with public records and, as a condition, forfeited his position and is permanently disqualified from future public employment with the State of New Jersey. The record lists a 2,205-day suspension.
On December 5, 2018 Det. Familia was arrested and criminally charged with fictitious reports, specifically by detailing a hand-to-hand drug transaction that he knew did not occur. On January 16, 2024 he plead guilty to the amended charge of Tampering with Public Records, and as a condition, forfeited his position as a public employee, and is forever disqualified from holding any future position of public employment with the State of New Jersey.
Compensation and pension
No confident pension match found. This officer's record shows they resigned, retired, transferred, or otherwise separated from this agency while an internal affairs matter was pending, which can affect whether a current PFRS/SPRS record exists here. 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. See methodology for how these matches are made and what is withheld.
Similar records
AnalysisComputed by this site from shared agency, year, charge category, and sanction outcome. Not a legal or factual equivalence.
Marqus Morel · Passaic County Sheriff's Department · 2023
Suspended (days not reported)Separated while IA pending
Sustained charge(s): 4A:2-2.3(a) Truthfulnes
same agency · similar sanction outcome
Lorenzo Bowden · Passaic County Sheriff's Department · 2024
TerminatedSuspended 203 days
Sustained charge(s): 18 U.S.C. 242 Deprivation of Civil Rights Under Color of Law; 18 U.S.C. 1512(k) Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice; 18 U.S.C. 1512(k) False…
same agency · same year
Christian Colon · Passaic County Sheriff's Department · 2024
Terminated
Sustained charge(s): N.J.A.C. 4A:2-2.3(a) 6 Conduct Unbecoming a public emloyee; N.J.A.C. 4A:2-2.3(a) 3 Inability to perform duties; N.J.A.C. 4A:2-2.3(a) 11.22…
Sustained charge(s): Absence from duty/ Conduct Unbecoming
same year · similar sanction outcome
Questions and answers
What is a summary of Joel Familia's major discipline record?
Detective Familia was arrested on December 5, 2018, and charged with fictitious reports for detailing a hand-to-hand drug transaction that he knew did not occur, the Passaic County Sheriffs Office reported. On January 16, 2024, he pled guilty to the amended charge of tampering with public records and, as a condition, forfeited his position and is permanently disqualified from future public employment with the State of New Jersey. The record lists a 2,205-day suspension.
What is Joel Familia's major discipline record at Passaic County Sheriff's Department?
Joel Familia has one major discipline record at Passaic County Sheriff's Department in the New Jersey Attorney General's 2020-2025 releases, from 2024. These are final, adjudicated actions, not allegations.
Does Joel Familia's record show a termination?
The major discipline records shown here do not report a termination for Joel Familia at Passaic County Sheriff's Department.
How does Passaic County Sheriff's Department score on this site's report card?
This site's report card places Passaic County Sheriff's Department in the second-highest fifth of its peer group on reported internal affairs volume and discipline severity. The grade is analysis by this site, not an official rating, and it describes the department, not Joel Familia individually.
Sources
[1]New Jersey Major Discipline Data, 2020-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Major Discipline Data", row 1242. Snapshot retrieved 2026-07-03. ↩