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NJ COs fired for lying about security rounds were ‘too relaxed’

When asked why they didn’t conduct the security checks, COs told investigators they “just got comfortable” and were “too relaxed”

By C1 Staff

BURLINGTON COUNTY, N.J. — Two corrections officers who were fired last year for lying about conducting security checks can’t get their jobs back, an appellate court has ruled.

According to NJ.com, former Burlington County COs Eugene R. Royster and Kate Blaszkowski were discovered to have falsified multiple security checks in a probe launched after an inmate died in their unit in 2017.

While the two COs were not accused of involvement in the inmate’s death, the warden’s subsequent review of surveillance tape of the unit found discrepancies in their logbooks. When asked why they didn’t conduct the security checks, they told investigators they “just got comfortable” and were “too relaxed.”

The COs were terminated in April 2018. In an appeal, Royster and Blaszkowski argued they should have been suspended instead of fired, citing others with similar violations.

The appeals court upheld the terminations Tuesday.

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