The majority of New Jersey’s local police departments routinely violate state law when handling civilian complaints about police misconduct, according to an American Civil Liberties Union report that will be released today.

Nearly 100,000 complaints — ranging from improper searches to excessive force — were filed against New Jersey police from 1996 to 2005, according to summary reports by local agencies.

Deborah Jacobs, executive director of New Jersey’s ACLU chapter, said police lose the public’s trust if there isn’t a fair process for airing grievances.

“Citizens need internal affairs to protect their rights and their safety,” she said.

According to the ACLU report, police agencies restrict the process of accepting complaints, and county prosecutors and the attorney general’s office need to improve their oversight of local departments.

Local agencies are required by law to comply with the attorney general’s policies on internal affairs practices, issued in 1991 and last updated in 2000. ACLU volunteers called 503 police departments — including all municipal, county, park and transit agencies — earlier this year and found many do not follow these policies, the report said.

“We found significant evidence that the process for citizen complaints against police officers in New Jersey is broken,” the report stated.

For example, 63 percent of local police agencies said complaints must be submitted in person and 49 percent do not accept anonymous complaints. Both contradict the attorney general’s guidelines.

The ACLU said its review of 50 cases filed in the last 10 years in Salem, Monmouth, Hudson and Ocean counties found the person making the complaint was never interviewed by investigators.

The report noted nine of New Jersey’s 21 county prosecutors did not have an internal affairs policy as of January 2007, citing an audit by the now-defunct Office of Government Integrity.

Peter Aseltine, spokesman for Attorney General Anne Milgram, said she would have no comment until she fully reviews the report. “The attorney general regards the handling of complaints against police officers as a very important issue that (affects) the rights of New Jersey residents as well as the effectiveness and reputation of law enforcement,” he said.

(Source: NJ.com)