The Prosecutor is the chief law enforcement officer in the County, and by statute, is responsible for the detection, arrest, indictment and conviction of offenders against the laws of the State of New Jersey. The Governor, with the consent of the State Senate, appoints the County Prosecutor in each of the twenty-one counties to a five-year term of office, which may be renewed at the Governor’s pleasure. In fact, New Jersey is only one of two states in the nation whose prosecutors is appointed by the Governor and is not an elected official. Our current County Prosecutor, Robert L. Taylor was sworn into office on October 1, 2004.

          The Prosecutor is at the center of New Jersey’s criminal justice system and wields a great deal of discretionary power to resolve matters involving violations of criminal statutes in the County’s geographical boundaries. The Prosecutor may pursue criminal prosecution by seeking indictments, or recommend plea bargaining agreements to the Court. The quality and direction of law enforcement efforts in any county is directly related to the actions of the Prosecutor and staff.

          Since taking office, Prosecutor Taylor has taken a proactive approach to law enforcement, maintaining a skilled and proficient response to criminal activity, while at the same time initiating aggressive intelligence gathering and emergency response programs such as a monthly information sharing meeting with all law enforcement agencies and subsequent dissemination through a newsletter as well as the creation of a rapid response team capable of coping with the most heavily armed suspects. Other innovative outreach programs have been initiated by Prosecutor Taylor in the schools and community to address such issues as school security, juvenile bullying, gang recruitment and activity, and human relations

          A County Prosecutor’s Office normally has three sections, legal, investigative, and support, with all working closely together to successfully prosecute offenders. Depending on the size of the office, specialized units are created such as narcotics, child abuse, Megan’s Law, economic crimes, intelligence, etc. The specialized units are particularly effective in complex economic crime or homicide investigations as well as sophisticated narcotics investigations.

          Currently in Cape May County, Prosecutor Taylor has a First Assistant Prosecutor, J. David Meyer, and Chief Assistant Prosecutor, Robert Johnson, Sr., who supervise a staff of ten Assistant Prosecutors assigned to the legal section. The professional and experienced staff of Assistant Prosecutors is assigned to various duties and responsibilities including Grand Jury preparation, trials, juvenile court, domestic violence and drug court as well as legal liaison to the Narcotics Task Force, Megan’s Law Unit and Child Abuse Unit

          The Investigative Division is currently comprised of a Chief, James E. Rybicki; a Captain, Eugene Taylor; two Lieutenants, and five Sergeants who supervise twenty-five Detectives. The division is divided into three sections; Major Crimes; Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Task Force; and Special Operations and Planning.

          The Major Crimes Section handles all criminal investigations occurring in Cape May County with the exception of those specialized cases involving organized networks dealing with gangs, guns and narcotics. This exceptionally skilled group of detectives are assigned to a variety of primary assignments, such as homicide and aggravated assault investigations, official corruption cases, economic crime investigations encompassing cases such as sophisticated fraudulent schemes to the more common contractor fraud, child abuse investigations requiring coordination with the Division of Youth and Family Services as well as all of the law enforcement agencies within the County, the tiering and tracking of Megan’s Law offenders, and forensic crime scene investigations. An important part of the detective’s assignment to this section is in litigation support, providing the legal staff with the information essential to successful prosecutions.  In addition to their primary assignments, detectives are assigned secondary duties such as the Fatal Crash Investigation Unit and surveillances as examples.

          Consistent with Governor Corzine’s Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods and Attorney General Anne Milgram’s violent crime reduction initiatives, the existing countywide narcotics task force had been reorganized to create the Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Task Force. This Multi-jurisdictional Task Force is focused on suppressing organized networks engaged in violence, gun possession and narcotics distribution, a top statewide law enforcement priority. The Task Force is supervised and staffed with Prosecutor’s Office detectives comprising operational, intelligence and fugitive components of the section. Also participating and an integral part of the Task Force are Special Agents in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and municipal police officers throughout Cape May County as well as the New Jersey State Police as required to successfully complete the variety of investigative operations initiated. These highly trained detectives utilize a variety of investigative techniques including electronic surveillance and undercover operations. As part of their duties, the detectives assigned to this section also coordinate intelligence information with municipal police departments throughout the County including counter terrorism leads and homeland security matters.

          The Special Operations and Planning Section was created by Prosecutor Taylor with experienced members of the office assigned to provide coordination and leadership in some of the newly emerging areas of responsibility that his office has assumed. As an example, members of this section were intimately involved in the implementation of a reverse lane or contra-flow strategy on the Garden State Parkway to evacuate residents and visitors of Cape May County. Coordination of the Regional SWAT Team, school Security, and Prosecutor’s Office Rapid Response Teams also fall under the responsibilities of this section. The section includes the Critical Infrastructure Coordinator and Domestic Preparedness Planner. Homeland security and preparedness planning are part of this section’s duties. Also part of the section is a detective assigned to internal affairs investigations involving criminal complaints against municipal police officers.

          A skilled support staff completes Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office with seventeen experienced legal secretaries, typists and clerks assigned to various areas throughout the office responsible for the transcription of major crime statements, intake of criminal complaints and police reports from the Prosecutor’s Office as well as all law enforcement agencies in the County, data processing, filing and general clerical work. Included with the support staff is an Office of Victim/Witness Advocacy within the Prosecutor’s Office comprised of trained staff of three counselors, supervised by two coordinators offering a wide array of services to victims of crimes. There are five Prosecutors’ Agents assigned to such specialized duties in the office as criminal case preparation, evidence custody and computer network administration. A forensic chemist completes the support services provided by the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office providing timely drug analysis and related services to the County’s law enforcement community as well as in special circumstances to federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration and state agencies such as the New Jersey State Police and Alcohol Beverage Control.