Sergeant Leonard Wolf, Internal Affairs Unit
Vineland City Police Department
111 N. Sixth Street
Vineland, NJ 08360
(via e-mail to
Dear Sergeant Wolf:
I chair the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Police Accountability Project and ask that you accept this letter as our Internal Affairs complaint. We would like your agency to investigate whether Officer Louis J. Plantania and other personnel employed by your agency acted in accordance with department policy and the law regarding a warrantless search of a motor vehicle on May 25, 2011.
According to the Appellate Division's decision in State v. Perry Wilcox, Docket No. A-4578-11T4 (on-line here), Plantania located a handgun while he was inside a suspect's car without having first obtained a warrant. The trial court suppressed the gun as the fruit of an invalid search and the Appellate Division affirmed.
If Plantania, despite having received adequate training and direction regarding warrantless searches, elected to ignore his training, we ask that you discipline him. Otherwise, we ask that your department review and supplement your training requirements in this area of the law.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very truly yours,
John Paff, Chairman
New Jersey Libertarian Party
Police Accountability Project
P.O. Box 5424
Somerset, NJ 08875-5424
Phone: 732-873-1251 - Fax: 908-325-0129
Email: