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At a press conference held in Asbury Park Friday, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni announced the results of “Operation Dead End,” a sweep that netted 28 individuals in connection with various crimes committed in the city including one Asbury Park Police Officer and two juveniles.

The operation resulted in 28 arrests out of 31 people charged, including 16-year veteran Asbury Park police officer Keith German, 45, who faces charges of official misconduct and unauthorized access of a computer database. The remaining three are still at-large.

According to Gramiccioni, German disclosed the existence of an investigative technique, coached one of the criminal enterprise leaders on lying in order to get a car out of an impound lot and accessed a police database to look at information about warrants on individual gang members.

He had been doing so “at least for the last month” said Gramiccioni.

German was arrested at his home in Tinton Falls on Wednesday and charged with official misconduct and unauthorized access of a computer database. He was the only individual of the 28 arrested to post bail as of 1:30 Friday, Gramiccioni said.

Asbury Park Police Chief Mark Kinmon said German will be suspended without pay.

“People who are sworn law enforcements are held to a higher standard,” said Gramiccioni.

Gramiccioni said it was “heartening” that if the allegations against German were proven to be true, that the “cancer get cut out” of the city’s police force and, even if the allegations prove to be true, it should not reflect poorly on the rest of the Asbury Park police force.

“One bad apple does not ruin the bunch,” he said.

Kinmon said he did not want the arrest of one individual to overshadow the success of the larger operation.

“When we recognize there is a problem, we take action,” Kinmon said.

Gramiccioni  is hopeful the arrests will help to reduce the crime in the city.

“Every time we make an arrest we are hopeful that will happen,” he said.

Tom Huth, director of the major crimes bureau of the prosecutor’s office, who said 80 percent of the violent crimes in the city were committed by 20 individuals at a community action network meeting confirmed “several” of the individuals are represented in the sweep and the others are still actively being investigated.

“It doesn’t stop at that 20, but they are the source of the problems – not only as far as the drug trade is concerned but also in terms of the gun violence,” he said.

Huth said he is “confident” crime in the city will be reduced following the arrests made in the sweep because “we are at least temporarily taking the head of the snake.”

A total of 31 individuals were charged in connection with the dragnet that honed in on criminal activity on two of the city’s dead end streets in Asbury Park, Dewiitt Avenue and Jersey Street in the Washington Village Public Housing Complex.

Click here to access a Sun article that reports the details of “Operation Dead End.” 

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