The Cape May County Prosecutors Office terminated Detective Sergeant Robert Harkins in 2025 after finding he conducted an improper investigation that included obtaining information about an incident involving a family member. Harkins was criminally charged under state statutes, and those charges were resolved through a diversionary program. By an order dated July 19, 2025, Harkins forfeited all public employment as part of that program. Sustained findings included neglect of duty, use of position, and conducting private business on duty.
Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, Rules and Regulations, specifically: 3:1.1 Standards of Conduct
3:1.7
3:1:8 Performance of Duty
3:1.11 Obedience to Laws, Rules and Regulations
3:1.34 Use of Position
3:2.1 Prohibited Activity on Duty, (3) Conducting private business on duty N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2 Forfeiture of Public Employment
Separated while IA pending
No
Synopsis as reported by the agency
By report dated January 9, 2020, Employee was found to have conducted an improper investigation, which included, in part, obtaining information pertaining to an incident involving a family member. As a result, Employee was criminally charged with violating N.J.S.A. 2C:28-7a(3) and N.J.S.A. 2C:21-4a. Said criminal charges were disposed of through a diversionary program. However, the conduct underlying the criminal charges in and itself warrants the recommended discipline, regardless of whether a criminal conviction was obtained or not. Moreover, by Order dated July 19, 2025, Employee forfeited any and all public employment forever as part of his diversionary program.
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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Michael Kelly · Jackson Township Police Department · 2025
Terminated
Sustained charge(s): Insubordination, Conduct Unbecoming, Neglect of Duty, Falsifying a Report
same year · similar charge category · similar sanction outcome
Other officers at Cape May County Prosecutor's Office
One other named officer with a reported major discipline record at this agency. Major discipline is final and post-appeal, as reported by the agency.
No confident pension match found. This officer's record shows a termination; a terminated officer would not have an active PFRS/SPRS record at this agency, which is one reason no match may exist 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. Other general possibilities include insufficient vesting, a role not covered by PFRS or SPRS, a deferred or vested status not reflected in a current snapshot, or a data-matching limitation. See methodology for how these matches are made and what is withheld.
Questions and answers
What is a summary of Robert Harkins's major discipline record?
The Cape May County Prosecutors Office terminated Detective Sergeant Robert Harkins in 2025 after finding he conducted an improper investigation that included obtaining information about an incident involving a family member. Harkins was criminally charged under state statutes, and those charges were resolved through a diversionary program. By an order dated July 19, 2025, Harkins forfeited all public employment as part of that program. Sustained findings included neglect of duty, use of position, and conducting private business on duty.
What is Robert Harkins's major discipline record at Cape May County Prosecutor's Office?
Robert Harkins has one major discipline record at Cape May County Prosecutor's Office in the New Jersey Attorney General's 2020-2025 releases, from 2025. These are final, adjudicated actions, not allegations.
Does Robert Harkins's record show a termination?
Yes. At least one of Robert Harkins's major discipline records shows a termination, reported for 2025.
How large is Cape May County Prosecutor's Office, the department Robert Harkins worked for?
Cape May County Prosecutor's Office reported 37 sworn officers to the FBI for 2025. This is department-level context from the FBI's Law Enforcement Employees census, not a statement about Robert Harkins individually.
Sources
[1]New Jersey Major Discipline Data, 2020-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Major Discipline Data", row 259. Snapshot retrieved 2026-07-03. ↩
[2]FBI Law Enforcement Employees (LEE), New Jersey subset. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Row 8279. Derived from the public Law Enforcement Employees (LEE) / Police Employee Data dataset (1960-2025), https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/. ↩