By Benjie Cooper
IG: @nuglifenews
YouTube: Lucid’s Vlog
A seventy-day suspension has been upheld for a Conservation Officer with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife who attempted to carry out a solo sting operation in 2013 after allegedly receiving a tip that a man, referred to as J.G. in court documents, was growing cannabis in a shed next to state land in South Jersey.
When Officer Zane Batten notified the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office (CCPO) of the tip, he found that there were no active investigations, so he decided to launch one of his own.
Batten placed an ad on Craigslist that included J.G.’s phone number and home address, hoping that people would arrive unannounced at his home and spook him enough to try and move the plants, giving the officer probable cause for a search.
Ten to twelve people called and showed up to J.G.’s home, but after Batten hid behind the man’s shed for eight to ten hours and saw nothing suspicious, he removed the fake ad.
A few days after the failed sting, Batten was investigating a trespass complaint on a property he patrolled when J.G. hit him with a bucket. J.G. was arrested and given an assault charge which was later dropped.
When his attorney discovered the Craigslist ad during an investigation of the assault allegations, J.G. filed a harassment complaint against Batten with CCPO internal affairs where, during an interview, the officer confessed and explained his reasoning.
Batten had had multiple encounters with J.G. for eighteen years and believed him to be an active gang member involved in violent crime.
“While he was allegedly concerned for his own safety,” wrote the appellate court in response. “He testified he was not concerned about the individuals who might have shown up on the property in response to the phony ad.”
In 2016, the Department of Environmental Protection decided that Batten should be suspended for seventy days, a punishment which was approved by the Civil Service Commission.
Batten appealed the decision with the New Jersey Superior Court who last week determined that the existing evidence was sufficient to support the Commission’s ruling.
