Neptune paid $27,000 for police report, and it's a secret

Austin Bogues | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption What is in the Turner Report? The township paid $27,000 for a report on internal complaints in its police department. Since it was completed in January of 2014, it has not been formally accepted by the township committee, read by the mayor or made available to the public.

NEPTUNE - In recent years, the local police department has faced a host of major issues, ranging from an officer killing his ex-wife to a $660,000 payout to settle sexual harassment claims from two female officers.

The township is now fighting a second harassment suit from one of the women, who resigned earlier this year, and another claim by a black officer that he was unfairly disciplined because he supported the women.

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The Township Committee was so concerned with the internal complaints and personnel issues within the department in 2013 that it commissioned a $27,000 independent study of the department's operations.

The insight to the department's issues could lie within that $27,000 document.

No one, though, may ever know.

The mayor and committee refuse to read it, let alone let the public see it.

They have used a loophole in the state's Open Public Records Act to keep the report secret. Township Clerk Rick Cuttrell said the Township Committee never voted to accept the report.

By not voting to officially "accept" the report, the report remains a nonpublic document. Even if the township had accepted the document, it would refuse to release it on the grounds that it was a "personnel record," according to the township's rejection of the Asbury Park Press open records' request. A state court judge also has ruled the report is not public.

Watch the video above to get the 40-second story of the commissioned report not read by town officials.

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Neptune Mayor Michael Brantley confirmed he had not reviewed the report. He said he was "not sure" why the Township Committee never voted to accept the report.

"It deals with personnel matters. It's not open for public review. I have not reviewed it, and that's something we'll be looking into in the future. It depends on what the committee decides to do," Brantley said.

The report was commissioned in 2013 to look into personnel complaints within the department. The makeup of the Township Committee has changed since 2014 when the report was submitted by the consultant, Gregory K. Turner Consulting and Investigations LLC.

Brantley said other committee members wanted the report in 2013, and he was not primarily involved with the matter. Yet in the Township Committee meeting minutes for Jan. 13, 2014, Brantely told the public that the governing body was "trying to get a better understanding" of the department's issues.

"The Turner report was done under a previous committee, how we view that issue (now) might be different," Brantley told the Press. "This committee is aware of it, there’s interest in it. What we decide will probably be discussed in the near future."

Brantley and Kevin B. McMillan are the only two remaining committee members on the five-member panel from 2014. The committee has remained under full Democrat control.

Since the report was issued, the police department was granted accreditation in 2016 by the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.

Police Director Michael Bascom said the accreditation assessment process helped ensure "equal treatment for all" on the force.

But for comment on the report, Bascom did not respond to the Press for comment.

Capt. Michael McGhee, a spokesman for Neptune police, said he had not read the report and could not release it. "I don’t think the department even holds it and that’s up to the township (committee)," he said.

The department has gone through turbulent times since the report was produced.

In June 2015, Philip Seidle, who at the time was a Neptune police sergeant, killed his wife, Tamara Wilson-Seidle after a car chase through Asbury Park. Seidle pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and is serving a 30-year prison sentence.

The department also settled a sexual harassment suit involving two female officers and faced more lawsuits from officers.

Neptune has a population of about 27,600, according to the Census Bureau. Its population is about 53 percent white, 36 percent black, 10 percent Hispanic and 2.4 percent Asian. As of this year, the department had 79 full-time regular officers, 22 of 79 being minorities. Five of the 79 are female.

Committeeman and Police Commissioner McMillan declined to comment on the Turner report, referring all questions to Vito D. Gadaleta, the township's business administrator.

Gadaleta did not respond for comment.

Deputy Mayor Nicholas Williams declined to comment in an email to the Press. Committeeman Robert Lane could not be reached for comment.

Committeewoman Carol Rizzo, who was not on the township committee at the time the report was commissioned, said she'd be open to reviewing the report but was not certain what the process for doing that would be.

"If the report were available I would like to see it," Rizzo said.

Allegations of harassment

Attorneys Donald F. Burke and Donald F. Burke Jr., who are both representing Neptune Police Officer Kyheem Davis and former police Sgt. Elena Gonazlez in separate lawsuits against the township, unsuccessfully sought the Turner report last year through a subpoena.

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In late May of this year, Superior Court Judge Mara Zazzali-Hogan rejected a motion from Davis' attorneys to obtain the report from Neptune.

Gonzalez quit the department in April, saying a culture of harassment and retaliation never abated throughout her 11-year tenure with the department, even after settling a lawsuit in 2014 for $330,000 along with another officer – Christine Savage – and receiving a promotion under terms of the settlement in which the township and police department admitted no wrong-doing. Savage also received a $330,000 settlement. The suit was filed in 2013.

In the settlement agreements, the town acknowledges that the Turner report may result in "discipline of members of the Neptune Police Department."

The settlement was paid by the township's insurer, Scottsdale Insurance Co., according to a copy of the settlement agreements obtained by the Press. The township made no admission of wrongdoing in the settlement.

You can watch Gonzalez read her resignation letter to the township committee in the video below.

Watch the emotional resignation of a Neptune officer Elena Gonzalez resigned from the police department, after saying she was repeatedly subjected to sexual harassment and discrimination.

Gonzalez, who was the first minority female to attain the rank of sergeant, filed another lawsuit against the township in February 2016.

Davis said he was retaliated against for cooperating with the Turner investigation.

During a July 2016 township committee meeting following a disciplinary hearing, which Davis requested be held publicly, he said he gave a video deposition for the Turner report, where he was supportive of Gonzalez and Savage's allegations.

It is unclear how many people were interviewed for the report.

Davis told members of the township committee last summer that he was subject to unfair discipline because of his support for the women's claims of harassment in the report, which you can see in the video below.

Officer Kyheem Davis hearing Watch Officer Kyheem Davis outline why he feels he is being subjected to excessive discipline.

In 2014, Davis was first disciplined for speeding at more than 100 mph en route to the scene of a fatal accident and also for allegedly mishandling an iPhone seized during an arrest.

"He was traveling to a fatal motor vehicle accident. There was a woman dying in the car. I want to make sure you understand that Officer Davis was not the only one that was going 130 mph," Gonzalez told the township committee at the July 2016 meeting. "There were three other officers in violation of policies and procedures," Gonzalez said.

Sgt. Elena Gonzalez discusses Davis case Watch Elena Gonzalez speak to Neptune Township Committee.

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Davis, who had been suspended with pay since February 2016, returned to the police force last month as a result of court proceedings related to his disciplinary case, Burke said.

Burke said he could not comment on the proceedings or the terms of Davis' return.

"While the Neptune Township governing body acted responsibly in retaining Gregory K. Turner Consulting and Investigations to conduct an independent investigation of discrimination, if it did not take appropriate steps to eliminate discrimination and harassment uncovered by the Turner investigation, they are irresponsible and have acted unlawfully," Burke, who has not read the report, said in an email to the Press.

"Given the continuing discrimination harassment and retaliation in the Neptune Township Police Department, it is doubtful that the Neptune Township governing body has taken appropriate corrective action," Burke wrote.

Austin Bogues; 732-643-4009; abogues@gannettnj.com

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