Senate to Vote on Top Cop Nominee

The former head of the Newark police department, whose personal record includes assaults and bankruptcy, will be considered by the full Senate as the governor's choice to head the state police. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-2 on Monday to approve Joseph Santiago's nomination. Santiago became Gov. James E. McGreevey's most controversial nominee even before he was publicly named.

The fiercest criticism has come from trooper unions who claim Santiago would not meet basic standards for becoming a state police recruit.

McGreevey defended his choice and on Friday administration aides circulated a package of letters, articles and other writings all supporting Santiago.

Senators considering the nomination promised a through examination of Santiago's background, which some lawmakers called troubling.

Santiago failed to pay taxes on an unlicensed security firm in the late 1980s, but paid up in a tax amnesty six years ago.

He ran an unlicensed foundation out of a Newark gas station that raised thousands of dollars from business and community leaders, according to a report published Friday in The Record of Hackensack.

Santiago was also found guilty in 1993 of a disorderly persons offense for striking an off-duty Essex County jail guard who had pushed his fiancee.

McGreevey has defended Santiago, who would be the first Hispanic to run the state police.

The governor says he wants Santiago to accomplish with New Jersey's largest law enforcement agency what he did over five years in Newark. The state police is under a federal consent order after years of racial profiling and allegations of misconduct.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP