LINDEN — More than two months after he crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer in Staten Island in a suspected drunk-driving accident that killed two people, Linden Officer Pedro Abad remains on the city payroll.

Abad, 27, had blood-alcohol level of .24 -- three times the legal limit -- at the time of the head-on crash, officials have said. He also has previously been charged with drunk driving after two separate accidents. He pleaded guilty to one of those incidents in 2013.

"This destroys the image of the police department for years," said Maria Haberfeld, a professor at John Jay College of of Criminal Justice and chair of the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration at the college.

"It's incomprehensible to me that he's still on the force. It taints the whole department," she added. She has used reports about Abad in her police ethics class.

Linden police say they are still reviewing the case, and awaiting results of the New York investigation, and have not taken any disciplinary action. New York authorities have not filed any charges against anyone involved in the crash.

Under the state Attorney General's Office guidelines, a police officer can be suspended for several reasons, including if he is charged with a first-, second- or third-degree crime, or even a disorderly person's offense if that offense was committed while on duty.

An officer can also be suspended if he is a hazard to another person, or if his or her suspension is necessary to maintain safety or to maintain effective direction of public services.

Police can also suspend an officer found to be "unfit for duty," but exactly what that means is not spelled out.

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Thomas O'Reilly, of the Rutgers University Police Institute in Newark, recalls the case of an officer in another state who was suspended for repeatedly being late for work. Each police chief of director makes their own decision about appropriate discipline.

"It's a discretion issue," O'Reilly said.

After a judge suspended his license on Oct. 16, 2013 following a guilty plea on a DUI charge in Rahway, Abad was assigned to write red-light camera violations, according to records NJ Advance Media obtained through an OPRA request.

Between Oct. 17, 2013 and December 2014, Abad signed-off on 13,105 summons for red-light violations issued to drivers caught by the city's automated cameras, according to those municipal records. That is more than one-third of the 35,833 red-light tickets that the department issued during that time period.

Reviewing red-light camera reports is a legitimate assignment for an officer assigned to desk duty, law enforcement experts say. However, at least one of those experts said the irony of an officer reviewing traffic violations when he can't drive himself is bad for public perceptions.

If people knew an officer with a suspended license was sending out tickets, "it would leave a bad taste in your mouth," said Thomas O'Reilly, director of the Police Institute at Rutgers University in Newark.

Haberfeld said having Abad sign the red-light camera tickets was an option.

"It's not like he's stopping violators," Haberfeld said.

On March 20, Abad took a wrong turn while driving, after a night a drinking with three friends, and drove north in the southbound lanes of the West Shore Expressway in Staten Island. He crashed head-on into a truck, killing two passengers, fellow Officer Frank Viggiano, and Linden resident Joseph Rodriguez, both 28.

Abad, 27, and another officer, Patrik Kudlac, 23, were critically injured. Late last month, both were released from the hospital.

The state ordered all towns to stop using red-light cameras as of Dec. 16, 2014, after critics said the five-year pilot program had not proven the value of the systems and claimed it was a money-making effort by municipalities.

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Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.