Officers in Deloatch Shooting Both Were Subjects of Prior Internal Affairs Investigations

The two officers involved in the fatal shooting of Barry Deloatch were the subjects of nine Internal Affairs investigations by the New Brunswick Police Department prior to the incident – including five since 2010 - according to municipal records.

Police Officer Brad Berdel was investigated by Internal Affairs seven times starting in 2006, while Daniel Mazan was investigated twice in 2010, the records show.

One of the investigations involved allegations of “excessive force’’ in a complaint filed by a city woman against Berdel in July 2009. The records say the accusation was “not sustained.’’

Four of the other investigations were for “demeanor,” while the rest were for differential treatment, improper search, a rule violation and “other criminal.”
The records show the two officers were cleared in five of the nine cases. In the other four instances, the Internal Affairs documents show no outcome or say the inquiry is pending.

The Sept. 22 shooting of Deloatch, who authorities say was not carrying a gun, remains under investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Authorities say the officers were on routine patrol when they stopped to question Deloatch, who was 47, and two other men. Authorities say the three men fled and Deloatch was shot and killed in a scuffle with the officers.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan has not released the names of the two police officers, but they were identified by their names in legal papers filed by the Deloatch family giving the city notice of a possible lawsuit.

When asked if the Internal Affairs records were being reviewed by detectives, Kaplan’s spokesman, James O’Neill, said, “I can’t comment on specific details of the investigation.’’

The spokesman for the New Brunswick police department, Lt. J.T. Miller, did not return a phone message left on his voice mail on Friday.

“I find the open cases very troubling,’’ said Richard Rivera, a former West New York police officer who heads the civil rights committee of the Latino Leadership Alliance, an advocacy group that has called for the Deloatch case to be heard by a grand jury.

The Alliance’s president, New Brunswick lawyer Martin Perez, is a co-counsel in the Deloatch family’s potential lawsuit against the city, according to a story on app.com.

In many New Jersey cities, Rivera said, internal affairs complaints take far too long to be resolved. Rivera faulted New Brunswick for not moving more quickly to investigate allegations against its police officers.

“Maybe the death of Barry Deloatch could have been prevented,’’ he said.

Berdel and Mazan were placed on paid administrative leave shortly after the shooting, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Berdel joined the New Brunswick police force on August 29, 2005. He was paid $89,195 in 2010, according to city payroll records. Mazan was hired on March 16, 2009. Records show he was paid $52,692 in 2010.

Mazan was one of five city police officers honored for valor for their efforts in apprehending a suspect in a June 2010 shooting at the Ginger and Olive Restaurant, according to a press release issued by the New Brunswick police department.

Also, Berdel and Mazan were among the city police officers who participated in April in the Lincoln Tunnel Challenge, a 5k charity run for the Special Olympics, a police press release said.

New Brunswick Patch reviewed the New Brunswick police department’s Internal Affairs unit’s annual reports for the past eight years. The documents showed several dozen complaints filed against city police officers every year, including an average of about 20 involving allegations of excessive force.

At the start of 2009, for example, the department had 32 excessive force complaints pending, according to the records. 20 new excessive force complaints were filed during that year. In 10 instances, the files say the officers were exonerated, in five the complaints were listed “not sustained” and in one the charge was marked as “unfounded.’’ At the end of the year, there were still 36 excessive force cases pending, the records say.

According to city documents, here’s a list of the nine internal affairs cases that had been filed against Berdel and Mazan:

• In 2006, a “differential treatment” complaint was filed against Berdel by a fellow city police officer. The records log listed the case as “pending.”
• In 2008, in two separate cases, Berdel was the subject of “demeanor complaints,’’ one filed by a 28-year-old man and another by a 35-year-old. The records say he was exonerated in both instances.
• In 2009, a Baldwin Street woman filed an “excessive force” complaint against Berdel. Records say the complaint was “not sustained.’’
• In 2010, two men filed “improper search” complaints against Berdel. The records did not list an outcome for those complaints.
• In 2010, Mazan was the subject of inquiry involving “other rule violation.’’ The records say he was exonerated “with counseling.”
• In 2010, a resident filed a demeanor violation against Mazan. The outcome was not clear.
• In 2010, a resident filed an Internal Affairs complaint against Berdel that was listed as “other criminal.’’ The records listed that case as pending.
• On August 30, 2011, a resident of Joyce Kilmer Avenue filed a “demeanor” complaint against Berdel. The officer was exonerated, according to the records.

The files contained few other details about the cases.

The Internal Affairs records show complaints brought against police officers by others. In New Jersey, police officers themselves must file “Use of Force” reports anytime they use force in the line of duty. That covers everything from grabbing the arm of a suspect resisting handcuffs to wounding someone during a shootout.

Rivera, from the Latino Alliance’s civil rights committee, said the information in “Use of Force” reports could signal impending problems with a police officer. Rivera said he analyzed New Brunswick’s 2010 “Use of Force” files and found neither Berdel nor Mazan were among the top 10 in terms of the number of reports submitted. Rivera said Berdel was one of five officers in the city who filed “Use of Force” reports that covered all three of the following areas: kicking, uses of chemical spray and use of hands or fists.

“That’s a red flag,’’ Rivera said.

In an examination of the city’s “Use of Force” reports from 2006 through September 2011, New Brunswick Patch did not find any previous instances in which Berdel or Mazan reported firing his gun prior to the Deloatch shooting, which happened at night near a Throop Avenue alley.

The records showed that Mazan filed 11 “compliance hold” reports - five in 2011, three in 2010 and three in 2009. The compliance hold is the most common type of force used by police officers and applies anytime police officers grab someone.

The records show Berdel has filed 12 compliance hold reports during his career. He also filed reports for using his hands or fists five times, for using chemical spray four times and for kicking twice.

In 2011, Berdel twice used his hands or fists, the record show, once to apprehend a man charged with drug possession and another time to arrest a man accused of having a weapon.