Candidates want probe
into issuance of badge
Fake credentials issued to former
official is the reason
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

Two candidates for the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders are calling for a federal investigation into a warden who issued a bogus badge.

During a press conference at the jail in North Brunswick on Sept. 4, GOP candidates David Barry and Adam Bushman urged Christopher J. Christie, United States attorney for the District of New Jersey, to launch an investigation into the unlawful issuance of law enforcement credentials by Michael Abode, the former warden of the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center.

Abode’s issuance of correction badges came into question with the recent arrest of former Middlesex County Roads Supervisor and former Freeholder Director Alan Haag.

Haag, a former Sayreville councilman, was charged with 20 criminal counts, including two counts of first-degree criminal attempt to commit rape for arranging to have sex with a Pennsylvania mother and her two daughters, ages 7 and 10.

The woman was actually an undercover police agent.

Police said they found a gold corrections badge with a phony insignia, issued by Abode, in Haag’s car at the time of his arrest.

Abode was charged with official misconduct after admitting to giving the badge to Haag, who was not a law enforcement official.

Barry and Bushman said they requested the investigation to verify whether Abode issued counterfeit badges to others.

"We do not know how many other badges have been unlawfully given to those not entitled to the badge," Bushman, 39, of Jamesburg said.

Bushman said residents of Middlesex County should not have to worry about the potential threat "of a law enforcement badge ending up in the wrong hands."

Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel said, however, that this was an isolated incident.

"Our county counsel, Tom Kelso, performed a complete review of all of the badges in the county and he found no other impropriety," Crabiel said.

The freeholder candidates said they called for an impartial review into the matter because of "a conflict of interest," noting the likelihood that Kelso has established relationships with both the freeholders and Abode.

"We call on the Board of Freeholders to join our call for an independent investigation into the number of bogus badges that have been distributed," Bushman said. "This is not a partisan issue, this is a question of security."

Saying he wanted to reassure residents, Crabiel said, "This is a unique situation in which the warden responsible has retired."

The GOP freeholder candidates also raised questions about how the current freeholder board oversees county departments and materials that may have aided in the fabrication of and payment for the counterfeit badge.

"We have put stricter guidelines into place through our purchasing department and other county departments that will generate a complete review of any additional badges ordered," Crabiel said.

Crabiel said the county sheriff and the county warden are the only officials authorized to give out badges.

"Very few badges are issued," Crabiel said.

When asked what privileges he thought a badge like that issued to Haag would give an official, Crabiel said, "None."

Barry and Bushman pledged that if elected, they would provide greater oversight of county departments and create stringent new guidelines to monitor the issuance of badges and law enforcement identification credentials.