In 2025, Kearny PD suspended Officer Latka for 60 days without pay after he used his in-car mobile data computer to check a vehicle's registration in response to a civilian who reported the vehicle as improperly parked and possibly stolen. After the inquiry found the vehicle was not reported stolen, Latka shared privileged information from the result with the civilian. The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office declined to prosecute. Two charges were sustained, Standard of Conduct and Conduct Unbecoming a Public Employee.
Kearny PD Rules & Regulations 3:1.1 (Standard of Conduct) and N.J. Admin. Code § (a)6 ( a Public Employee)
Separated while IA pending
No
Synopsis as reported by the agency
While on duty, Officer Lawrence Z. Latka #328 used his in-car mobile data computer (MDC) to conduct a digital inquiry into a vehicle's registration in response to a civilian raising the concern that the vehicle was parked improperly and suspecting that the vehicle may be stolen. After the inquiry determined that the vehicle was not reported stolen, the officer shared privileged information from this inquiry result with the civilian who had raised the concern to him. This matter was referred to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, which declined to prosecute the matter criminally. The subsequent administrative investigation determined that the digital inquiry was permissible and legal, but that the sharing of any portion of the result with a civilian was prohibited and contrary to 28 CFR Part 23, as well as agency and statewide policies and guidelines. Ultimately, two charges were sustained: Kearny PD Rules & Regulations 3:1.1 (Standard of Conduct) and N.J. Admin. Code § (a)6 ( a Public Employee), and the officer was suspended for 60 days (unpaid). ***The Town of Kearny employs multiple individuals with this surname. Readers are advised to exercise caution to ensure the identity of the officer mentioned herein is not confused with other employees.***
Similar records
AnalysisComputed by this site from shared agency, year, charge category, and sanction outcome. Not a legal or factual equivalence.
The amount is as reported by the New Jersey Department of the Treasury in its YourMoney pension data, as of March 31, 2026. It is the pension-basis figure and may not include overtime, accrued leave, stipends, or other pay. The link between this officer and this pension record is a records-based match at high confidence (exact name and exact employing agency), not a certified identity. If it is wrong, we will remove it: corrections.
Questions and answers
What is a summary of Lawrence Latka's major discipline record?
In 2025, Kearny PD suspended Officer Latka for 60 days without pay after he used his in-car mobile data computer to check a vehicle's registration in response to a civilian who reported the vehicle as improperly parked and possibly stolen. After the inquiry found the vehicle was not reported stolen, Latka shared privileged information from the result with the civilian. The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office declined to prosecute. Two charges were sustained, Standard of Conduct and Conduct Unbecoming a Public Employee.
What is Lawrence Latka's major discipline record at Kearny Police Department?
Lawrence Latka has one major discipline record at Kearny Police Department in the New Jersey Attorney General's 2020-2025 releases, from 2025. These are final, adjudicated actions, not allegations.
What is Lawrence Latka's base salary on record?
Lawrence Latka's reported base salary is $97,904, from New Jersey Treasury YourMoney data, matched to this officer at high confidence. Lawrence Latka has 6 years, 9 months of reported service.
How large is Kearny Police Department, the department Lawrence Latka worked for?
Kearny Police Department reported 114 sworn officers to the FBI for 2025. This is department-level context from the FBI's Law Enforcement Employees census, not a statement about Lawrence Latka individually.
Sources
[1]New Jersey Major Discipline Data, 2020-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Major Discipline Data", row 394. Snapshot retrieved 2026-07-03. ↩
[2]YourMoney Active Pension Members (PFRS/SPRS subset). New Jersey Department of the Treasury. Row 227736, snapshot as of March 31, 2026. Derived from the public YourMoney Active Pension Members dataset, https://www.yourmoney.nj.gov/. ↩
[3]FBI Law Enforcement Employees (LEE), New Jersey subset. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Row 8344. Derived from the public Law Enforcement Employees (LEE) / Police Employee Data dataset (1960-2025), https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/. ↩