Free Republic

Jury probes effort to smear GOP Testimony focuses on State Police files and McGreevey's campaign A state grand jury is hearing testimony into allegations that former State Police officials and a former state senator conducted a covert operation that used confidential files in an effort to smear Republicans and help James E. McGreevey run for governor four years ago. ...A key witness in the investigation, retired State Police Lt. Vincent Bellaran, said in an interview this week he has testified three times before the grand jury in Trenton. In return for his testimony, Bellaran said, prosecutors who report to state...

Christopher Scales , a fifteen year veteran of the NJ State Police , was killed on the NJ Turnpike yesterday , at the Carteret toll booths : not while pursuing the reckless motorists his Tactical Patrol unit is assigned to look for ; not while intercepting would-be terrorists ; not for anything any sane person would consider worthwhile. Someone, higher up , decided it would be a GOOD THING to divert highly trained Officers from their usual tasks, and send them to the toll booths , so they could " monitor seat belt use ". Some Safetycrat, you see, had...

<p>John Oliva's suicide on Oct. 1 ended a four-year ordeal that had turned his dream job into a nightmare.</p> <p>Oliva, 36, was among a handful of state troopers who in 1998 blew the whistle on racial profiling in the state. Troopers would stop minority motorists with no probable cause, trampling on their civil rights and ultimately destroying the agency's reputation.</p>