JERSEY CITY—The Jersey City Police Department released its annual list of disciplined officers last Wednesday. The report covers 2025 and names twenty cops who got hit with suspensions, demotions or other sanctions for everything from chronic absenteeism to shoplifting. Not a single one was terminated.

The 22-page document went up on the city website without much fanfare. It satisfies a 2020 state mandate that forces departments to air their dirty laundry. But the timing caught some watchdogs off guard: the report dropped in mid-March and covers a full calendar year that ended three months ago.

Twenty officers out of roughly 900 sworn personnel is a small slice of the force. Still, the details paint a picture of a department dealing with problems that festered for months before anyone faced consequences.

Chronic Absenteeism Led the List

The longest suspensions went to cops who simply stopped showing up. Detective Jeffrey Kochanski racked up sustained charges for chronic absenteeism spanning a full year. Officer Mylove Robertson crossed the 12-month threshold for unexplained absences. These weren't sick days, since the charges describe habitual patterns that left shifts unmanned.

Domestic violence calls went sideways more than once. Officer Andrew Lane caught 60 days after responding to a DV call where the victim showed visible injuries. The department found he ignored state guidelines for handling those situations. Whether the original victim in Lane's case ever got help remains unclear. The report stays silent on what happened to her.

Criminal Misconduct: From Domestic Violence to Shoplifting

Officer Tequan Kitchens got 40 days for a darker twist — he left his partner at a meal break, drove his personal car outside city limits while on the clock, and committed an act of domestic violence himself. Then there's the shoplifting cop. Officer Jonathan Colon didn't just steal once. He got busted for six separate shoplifting incidents, caught a municipal court conviction, and got himself banned from 37 retail stores. He was demoted and suspended, but the axe never fell. Colon resigned before his departmental hearing could wrap up. The document doesn't say whether he stayed on the payroll during the investigation, or how long Internal Affairs took to finish their work.

Motor vehicle violations filled out much of the list. Officer Devon Stevens somehow managed to drive an unregistered, uninsured vehicle while his license was suspended. He didn't tell the chief about his court dates and kept hopping in his patrol car. He also forgot to turn on his body camera during a call, which earned him two separate suspensions. Officer Brandan McWayne got 90 days after recklessly driving an unmarked unit and getting confrontational with a civilian.

Six Officers Quit Before the Axe Fell

Six officers beat the system by leaving first. They resigned, retired or transferred while Internal Affairs was still digging. That's a common move in Jersey: beat the sustained finding and you can apply somewhere else without a termination on your record. New Jersey's Civil Service Commission makes firing cops very difficult. Departments need bulletproof "just cause" documentation that can take months or years to assemble, so most towns simply don't bother.

Mayor James Solomon's office hasn't spoken about the discipline report. That's notable because Solomon campaigned on accountability and transparency. He's been vocal lately about fiscal responsibility: the city is staring down a $250 million deficit and just hired an outside firm to audit $52 million in health insurance claims paid to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. That audit hit the news the same week as the discipline report, though the two matters aren't connected.

The police union didn't return calls asking about the lack of termination. The silence is typical, since labor attorneys usually advise police unions to let the documents speak for themselves.

Statewide numbers suggest Jersey City isn't unique. Last year's Attorney General report showed 103 terminations across all of New Jersey, a jump from 58 the year before. But most individual departments reported zero or single-digit firings. The Civil Service process protects employment to a degree that frustrates chiefs and reformers alike.

The 2025 report marks five years since the state started forcing departments to publish these lists. Jersey City posts the names, violations and punishments as required. What they don't include is where these officers are working now. Some could be back on patrol, while others might be riding a desk. A few could still be collecting city checks while waiting out the process.

Requests for clarity on current duty status is frustrated by bureaucracy. The city clerk's office routinely responds that personnel files need separate public records requests, which could take weeks to process.

Sources

● Jersey City Police Department 2025 Major Discipline Report (March 18, 2026)

● Jersey City Health Insurance Audit Announcement

● New Jersey Attorney General 2024 Major Discipline Report

● NJ.com Statewide Police Discipline Analysis (2024)