It was a rough day for Township of Jackson officials - but all smiles for Police Chief Matt Kunz.
Back in April 2024, Jackson Township Mayor Mike Reina’s buddies on the Township Council appointed Joe Candido - then a sergeant with the Jackson Police Department - as its "Public Safety Director."
At the time, "Candido’s appointment will not replace the Chief of Police or eliminate the position. Instead, Candido will be tasked with helping make corrective recommendations to the administration, including on budgeted items, reporting on police department-related issues to the township, establishing police performance and standards policy, and staying ahead of New Jersey state mandates for reporting and accountability of local police departments as directed by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office," Township officials vowed in their self gratifying press releases.
As the news was broken very first here on FAA News, in December 2024, Jackson Township Police Chief Matthew Kunz filed a massive lawsuit seeking to oust Candido.
According to the court filing in New Jersey Superior Court in Ocean County by Secaucus Attorney John P. Nulty, Jr., Esq.:
By statute, Kunz possesses the right to administer and enforce rules and regulations applicable to the Department and to oversee and manage the Department’s day-to-day affairs. The Legislature has made clear that these statutory rights are designed to insulate chiefs of police from political pressures and to permit them freedom to manage their departments free from unnecessary interference.
Upon assuming his new title as Director, however, Candido has exercised absolute and total authority over the Department’s day-to-day operations, cutting Kunz completely out of the decision-making process and overturning his prior orders. Kunz thus has been forced involuntarily to cede unassignable statutory privileges to a subordinate officer.
Director Candido is barred from serving as the Director of Public Safety by the common law incompatibility doctrine, which prohibits public officials and employees from serving in dual roles, one of which is subordinate to the other. Because he already serves as a Lieutenant in the Department subordinate to Kunz, Director Candido cannot fill a second role in which he is able to exercise supervisory authority over Kunz.
Finally, Director Candido issued discipline to Kunz, but failed to comply with the requirements of both the IAPP and the Department’s Standard Operating Procedures, both of which require that investigations for police chief misconduct be carried out by the County Prosecutor’s Office or the Attorney General’s Office, and then be referred to the appropriate authority.
Since the initial filing of the lawsuit, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office took the extraordinary step of issuing a letter to the Director, informing him that he could not unilaterally discipline Kunz and that his incessant interceding in the department’s affairs violated the Police Chiefs’ Responsibility Act.
Following oral arguments held on Friday morning, Ocean County Superior Court Judge Valter Must stated he vehemently "agrees that that" - i.e. Candido holding the Public Safety Director position while simultaneously remaining an employee of the police department - "can't persist."
After Township attorneys stated they would "likely appeal" the ruling, Judge Must granted an immediate 30-day stay of the ruling ousting Candido to give the Township time to file an appeal.
Even if the Township does file an appeal, they would need to seek a further stay from the Appellate Division to keep Candido in his position pending the outcome of the appeal.
The New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Chief Kunz.
Kunz has been employed by the Township for over 34 years and has served as its Chief of Police since 2008.
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