Major discipline · 2025[1]
TerminatedSuspended 512 days- Rank as reported
- Detective
- Sustained charge(s)
- PTC License Revocation
- Separated while IA pending
- No
Plain-language summary (this site, from the cited record only)
Detective Richard Dow of the North Plainfield Police Department was terminated in 2025 following a domestic matter that began on March 28, 2024 in Piscataway. A temporary restraining order was granted against Dow on April 1, 2024, and a final restraining order followed on April 17, 2024. After his appeal was denied on October 27, 2025, the Police Training Commission revoked his police license, and Dow was terminated after a departmental hearing on December 11, 2025. His record also lists a 512-day suspension.
Synopsis as reported by the agency
On March 28,2024 Det. Dow was involved in a verbal domestic dispute with a “person who constitutes a victim under New Jersey’s Prevent of Domestic Violence Act” in Piscataway N.J. On April 1, 2024 the “person who constitutes a victim under New Jersey’s Prevent of Domestic Violence Act” was granted a Temporary Restraining Order against Det. Dow in Middlesex County Family Court. Det. Dow was immediately placed on modified duty as a result of the protective order. On April 17, 2024 Det. Dow appeared in Middlesex County Family Court as a defendant in a Final Restraining Order hearing. The “person who constitutes a victim under New Jersey’s Prevent of Domestic Violence Act” was granted a F.R.O. on that date in Superior Court. Det. Dow was suspended as a result of the F.R.O. and he filed an appeal with the Court. The F.R.O appeal was denied by the Court in an Appellate legal opinion decided on October 27, 2025. The Police Training Commission then revoked Det. Dow’s Police License on October 29, 2025 due to the Final Restraining Order. Det. Dow was then terminated from the North Plainfield Police Department subsequent to a departmental hearing held on December 11, 2025.