Two officers were convicted of misconduct this week.
BLOOMFIELD -- Though they are in the process of being fired from the force, two officers convicted this week of official misconduct have helped the Bloomfield Police Department develop higher standards for officer conduct and accountability.
That's according to Bloomfield Police Director Sam DeMaio, who said the trial of officers Sean Courter and Orlando Trinidad was part of what led to his joining the department.
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"I think that's something that prompted (the township to hire me to conduct) the management study," DeMaio said in a phone interview Friday. In the year since his 200-page report containing reform recommendations for the agency, "we are doing everything we possibly can to prevent something like this from happening again."
Courter and Trinidad were convicted this week of official misconduct and related charges in connection with their 2012 arrest of township resident Marcus Jeter. Based mostly on dash cam video of the incident, a jury found that the two made false statements in their police reports about the arrest.
Bloomfield Police Director Sam DeMaio. (Jerry McCrea | The Star-Ledger)They have been on unpaid suspension from the BPD for the past several years, and the department is now moving to terminate them, DeMaio said.
Throughout the trial, Courter and Trinidad maintained their innocence, with their attorneys arguing that they wrote in the reports what they believed to be true at the time.
Courter's attorney, Charles Clark, told NJ Advance Media, "we respect the jury's verdict...(but) we respectfully disagree with it, because...we're 100 percent convinced they're innocent."
Given the role the dash cam played in the case, the 125-officer department has since re-outfitted all of its cars with high definition cameras. That was among several changes in the department over the past year, DeMaio said, including a pursuit and use of force review board, and the creation of standard operating procedures. The department is now seeking state accreditation, he said.
"When there is a lack of measurement or review...it's not hard for officers to go rogue," DeMaio said. But, he said, the officers on the force have been complying with all of the new standards.
"The result of this trial is in no way a reflection on the hardworking men and women of the Bloomfield Police Department," DeMaio said.
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.