The Lakewood Police Department finally broke its silence Tuesday on the now-infamous arrest of Rabbi Binyomin Kubani — and their carefully worded statement said more than they likely intended.
“We want to reassure the public that this matter is being taken with the utmost seriousness,” the statement reads, while citing “an active internal affairs investigation” as the reason they won’t offer further comment.
This is not reassurance. This is damage control.
The fact that the department has launched an internal investigation is not commendable — it’s expected. But if history is any guide, it’s also meaningless. Internal investigations are, by nature, biased and insulated. They are designed to protect the department from public accountability, not deliver justice.
Need a reminder? Just hours before the Kubani story erupted, Lakewood Alerts reported the passing of former Lakewood officer Wayne Truex — a man who, in 2002, struck and killed a pedestrian near the Bais Faiga wedding hall. At the time, there were serious allegations that Truex had been speeding and possibly drunk. Yet it took immense pressure before he was dismissed from the force. The internal review then was accused of being a cover-up and having protected Truex. That’s the pattern.
And now we’re supposed to trust this same institution to police itself? No. Not this time.
The arrest of Rabbi Kubani has raised grave questions — not just about a single incident, but about the culture, conduct, and accountability of the Lakewood Police Department as a whole. It’s not enough to shrug and say “an investigation is underway.” Lakewood residents deserve an answer to a larger question: Who’s really watching the watchers?
What’s needed now is a full, independent review of the Lakewood Police Department — its practices, its leadership, its treatment of residents, and the extent to which it has operated outside the bounds of the law. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office should step in immediately. And if they’re unsure where to begin, we can help.
Lakewood Alerts has documented deep corruption — only a fraction of which we have yet released — that paint a deeply troubling picture of systemic issues inside the department. The Kubani case may be the spark, but it is far from the only fire.
The time for silence, secrecy, and self-policing is over. Lakewood deserves the truth — not from the department under scrutiny, but from those with the independence and authority to uncover it.
The public shouldn’t accept anything less.
TRUE COULDNT AGREE MORE
SPOT ON¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LPD IS DONE
WE CANNOT TRUST THEM
THEYRE TOTALLY OUT OF CTL
DEFUND LPD!!!!!!!!!!
It’s very dangerous what we are doing. Wrong or right we shouldn’t be throwing a tantrum Everytime the law doesn’t go out way. This is very unwise. And when the law actually does it’s duty we will cry too? Not everyone is innocent. The world is watching and our behavior is making Avery bad roshem on us
Who asked u
But
Ty anyway
Keep ur smart comments 2ur self
If there is true documented corruption the Attorney General will more than gladly investigate.
But in reality it’s all politics and hearsay, and there is nothing that rises to the level warranting the AG’s involvement.
The corruption of LPD so far, as per Lakewood Alerts. 1. It took “intense pressure” before cop was dismissed from the force (in 2002. over two decades ago.) 2. They didn’t give Lakewood Alerts a radio. 3. They arrested an orthodox Jewish man (who was shortly after released).
Oh, the corruption….
Thank you for speaking up against the corrupted LPD
This article is a disgrace. If you want to play politics with your competitors, go ahead—although it’s unprofessional. But to drag the entire Lakewood Police Department through the mud is completely out of line. The LPD has stood by our community time and again, going above and beyond to accommodate our unique needs. This very incident proves how deeply we rely on them—one arrest caused an uproar precisely because it was so out of the norm. Yes, it’s possible someone in power made a mistake, and that should be addressed—but that doesn’t justify slandering the entire department. We’re better than this. Our gratitude to the LPD remains strong.
It is sad as it isn’t the LPD but rather our own community with corrupt religious Jews pulling the strings. Look at all the traffic violations such as drum Jews making illegal right turns in front of a squad car or talking on their cellphones while driving. The LPD hands are tied. So it isn’t the LPD but rather the drum Jewish community that should be investigated
what are drum jews?
Most likely an auto correct translation of “frum”.
“corrupt religious Jews” is an oxymoron.
Lakewood PD is corrupt to the core i lived here all my life over the years the coverups ive witnessed would make John gotti proud the amount of money laundering that goes on will make your hair stand up, and thats just the tip
It isn’t the LPD but rather the community telling the cops what to do
You aren’t Shmuel.
TLS wasn’t always this corrupt, about 15 years or so ago Harrold hershkowitz was running for city counsel, he put out constant video’s exposing lakewoods corrupt township. TLS posted all those video’s the vaad had no chance the people woke up, then one fine day TLS stopped covering anything hershkowitz as if he poof disappeared. I sent him an email WTH why aren’t you covering hershkowitz, he replied “its complicated” needless to say we all know “he was spoken to” threatened or offered a huge honey pot he sold his soul for $ and perceived power
My interactions with the Lakewood PD have been respectful & fair. It’s not wise to lambast the whole PD over the action of one detective.
Wayne Truex is out of the force for 20 years & not a reflection of today’s leadership.
It’s time for Lakewood alerts to stop publicly bashing Askonim, politician, & civil servants in Lakewood.
If you have facts to share with us then do so. I’m not condoning any wrongdoing by those in power but we still need to express ourselves respectfully to those entrusted with protecting the local population.
Good for you, you have you’re head in the sand, as long as LPD hasn’t harassed you everything must be ok. well everything is not ok, just because you don’t have knowledge of it doesn’t make that its not happening, you should appreciate lakewood alerts and maybe you will learn something instead of ignorant comments you know nothing about
100000
Percent
LPD
Is one big septic system
Thats overflowing with…….
mr barry, the problem is that nothing of substance whatsoever has been posted on this site about LPD. You can complain about corruption from today until tomorrow but if you have nothing to back it up than frankly no one is interested. and frankly, this whole site is a joke.
What are you talking about? The outrage is the failed leadership that went silent and did not communicate ANYTHING for nearly a week. This only inflamed the situation and made it worse. No communication is an outright failure of leadership and certain “Askanim” that needed to deliver a statement showing transparency and accountability. They stayed silent and for that reason they have lost public trust.
Failure of leadership and the community police liaison. No leadership. Unacceptable and they should be fired.
No statement in nearly a week after protests! What an outrageous failure of “leadership.” Time to get a new chief and go to the polls and vote new strong leaders into office.
You can rant and rave against LPD all you want but, bottom line, while the arresting cop may have been in the wrong, the tumult to go down to police headquarters to try to get him out of jail is garbage. There is absolutelyNOBODY who can get him out of jail except the prosecutor (who may or may not be friendly to jews) not LPD brass, not Meir Lichtenstein , not even the Sherriff, ESPECIALLY on 4th of July weekend when the entire government shuts down completely.
No sense in caring, NOTHING is going to change!
Town is God awful.