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INTRODUCTION TO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN

This is the Affirmative Action Plan for the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. This plan makes a commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action in accordance with N.J.S.A. 10:5-4. This statute declares that all persons shall have the opportunity to obtain employment without discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation or gender. The purpose of this Affirmative Action Plan is to establish a formal program that includes goals and policies to which this Office is committed and provide equal employment opportunity to all employees and job applicants. This plan also establishes this Office’s Equal Employment Opportunity Policy in accordance with N.J.S.A. 10:5-12 stating that no discriminatory practices shall be tolerated within the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the procedures for filing related complaints.

The information supplied in this plan shall include an annual analysis of the current employee profile, an establishment of measurable objectives, a plan of action to begin correcting any identified inequities including specific action steps to be taken, a timetable for achieving the objectives and procedures for annually evaluating progress toward these objectives and revising the plan as needed.

The employee profiles included in this plan represent all sworn members of the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. This is to reaffirm that the Office of the Sheriff fully supports the laws on nondiscrimination in employment and directs that all personnel take immediate action to eliminate any existing discriminatory practices, procedures or attitudes. There is no acceptable reason for any discrimination in this area. Supervisors shall take an affirmative, leading role in seeking out, removing and preventing any traces of discrimination.

Undersheriff Darryl G. Breckenridge. is the Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Coordinator for the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Division. Undersheriff Breckenridge has been instructed to immediately report all cases of alleged discrimination and to keep me advised of their investigation. Unresolved cases will be reviewed by  Undersheriff Breckenridge so that proper action may be taken and to correct any injustices in accordance with General Order 98-25, Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator & Complaint Procedures.

Copies of this notice shall be posted permanently in conspicuous locations throughout the Sheriff’s Office.


AFFIRMATIVE ACTION POLICY STATEMENT

Federal Laws (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) and State Laws (N.J.A.C. 4A: 7 et seq., Chapter 124 of the Laws of 1981) make it illegal for employers to discriminate because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation or sex during the course of appointing new employees. Under Chapter 124 of the Laws of 1981, the New Jersey State Civil Service Commission shall ensure that the pool of applicants for all vacant positions in this office includes both minorities, the handicapped and females to the end that affirmative action goals are attainable through agency selection decisions. The Civil Service Commission shall further review their regulations and testing procedures in order to amend or eliminate those which serve to discriminate against minorities, the physically handicapped, and females. They shall ensure that selection devices are validated as significant predictors of successful job performance, isolate and eliminate prerequisites that are not legitimate occupational qualifications, review all discrimination complaints under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, evaluate trends and recommend appropriate policy changes.

This plan shall be the policy and procedures that guide this Office’s efforts in recruitment, employment, training, promotion and retention of minority, disabled persons and females within the sworn ranks of the Law Enforcement Division. In accordance with the above cited Federal and State Laws, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office shall ensure equal employment opportunity for all members of this Office and applicants aspiring to become members. Employment practices will be reviewed annually and an analysis completed to determine whether the protected classes are receiving fair and equal consideration for job opportunities and proactive steps will be taken to encourage minorities and females to apply for positions within the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. All personnel movements such as training, education, transfers and new assignments shall be administered without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation or sex.

This plan will be available to all members and employees of the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. All members and employees are charged with ensuring compliance with this policy and the policy and laws of this State.


EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY POLICY STATEMENT

Federal and State Laws (N.J.A.C. 4A: 7 et. seq., Chapter 124 of the Laws of 1981) make it illegal for an employer to discriminate because of race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, marital status, familial status, domestic partnership status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, sex, disability, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait and for service in the Armed Forces of the United States. The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office is also committed to a policy of nondiscrimination against qualified disabled persons and will accommodate physical and mental limitations to the extent that an undue business hardship is not imposed. Further, it is the policy of the office to prohibit harassment of one employee by another on the basis of gender, race, or religion in accordance with General Order 98-22, Anti-Harassment and Discrimination Policy.

This is to reaffirm that the Office of the Sheriff fully supports the laws on nondiscrimination in employment and directs that all personnel take immediate action to eliminate any existing discriminatory practices, procedures or attitudes. There is no acceptable reason for any discrimination in this area. Supervisory personnel shall take an affirmative, leading role in seeking out, removing and preventing any traces of discrimination.

Undersheriff Darryl G. Breckenridge, is the Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Coordinator for the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Division. He has been instructed to immediately report all cases of alleged discrimination and to keep me advised of their investigation. Undersheriff Breckenridge will review unresolved cases so that proper action may be taken to correct any injustices and ensure that an annual analysis is completed of the EEO Plan and related employment policies.

Copies of this notice are to be posted permanently in conspicuous locations throughout the Office of the Sheriff.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office is to have its sworn workforce be in approximate proportion to the makeup of the available workforce in the County of Monmouth.  This goal may prove to be difficult because the New Jersey State Civil Service Commission governs our selection process.

The following data is a breakdown of the available workforce in the County of Monmouth according to the 2020 census and the current demographic makeup of this agency.

 

CURRENT DEMOGRAPHICS:
 

 

Service
Population

Available Workforce

Current Sworn
Officers

Officers
Female

# % # % # % # %
Caucasian 460,825 71% 94,508 71% 107 79.26% 17 12.59%
African American 39,178 6% 7,987 6% 9 6.67% 0 0.00%
Hispanic* 80,730 13% 17,304 13% 16 11.85% 2 1.48%
Other** 62,882 10% 13,311 10% 3 2.22% 0 0%
Total 643,615 100.00% 133,110 100.00% 135 100.00% 19 14.07

**Other consists of Asian, Pacific Islander, some other race, and multiracial persons.                                          

 Our sworn workforce has grown from forty-seven sworn members in 1990 to one-hundred and forty sworn members in 2021. During our tenure, the agency has successfully increased both female and Hispanic sworn member representation using Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) Lists successfully solicited from the New Jersey State Civil Service Commission (CSC). To obtain these lists, we identified and provided supporting documentation to the CSC showing an agency need for female and Spanish-speaking sworn officers to assist with various law enforcement functions and services we provide.  Therefore, lists exclusively compiled of female and/or Spanish speaking candidates were periodically certified and used to fill sworn member vacancies throughout the past thirty years.

As a civil service agency that only recruits to fill actual or forecast vacancies, we continue to struggle to maintain and increase female and minority representation.  However, we believe that we can continue to increase representation and work toward the goal of maintaining and increasing female and minority representation within the sworn ranks.

 The Division Commander or designee shall review and complete an annual analysis of this plan and all related employment policies and make revisions to the Affirmative Action Plan as needed.  At that time, the statistics indicating the available make-up of the workforce in the County of Monmouth shall be updated, progress made towards attaining our stated goals and objectives shall be documented, and new goals and objectives established for the future.


DISSEMINATION OF THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN

This Affirmative Action Plan will be brought to the attention and understanding of members, employees, and the public through the following means:

  1. Discuss the Affirmative Action Plan at various staff meetings to make our intentions clear regarding recruitment and selection.
  2. Provide a copy of the Affirmative Action Plan to every employee of this agency annually.
  3. Post the Affirmative Action Plan throughout the various working areas of this agency.
  4. Post the Affirmative Action Plan on the official Sheriff’s Office website.
  5. Provide the Affirmative Action Plan as part of a recruitment package for personnel assigned to speak to various high school and college groups regarding career choices.

In addition to these procedures, it shall be the practice of this agency to maintain an open-door policy to the Equal Employment Opportunity Affirmative Action Coordinator in order to give all members and employees ample opportunity to present questions, comments, or concerns regarding the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office’s Affirmative Action Plan.