Seidle shooting prompts IA probes in Neptune, Asbury

Tamara Seidle's death in Asbury Park, by shots fired allegedly by the Neptune police sergeant she married, leads acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Grammiccioni to order internal affairs investigations in the police departments of both communities.

Sergeant Philip Seidle is accused of shooting his wife in broad daylight with one of their nine children nearby, while he was off duty. Under scrutiny are the actions of officers in both departments in relation to the chain of events.

The Prosecutor is promising to disclose the results of the investigation, and to leave any disciplinary actions in the hands of administrators in each department.

Mrs. Seidle's death sent shock waves through the community. Several grassroots efforts to place a financial net under the family are in operation, including a GoFundMe account and a fundraising walk this coming Saturday at Neptune High School.

Grammiccioni's official statement:

“Yesterday morning, I informed the police chiefs of the Asbury Park and Neptune Township Police Departments that our Office will conduct the Internal Affairs review and evaluation of the performance of the responding officers to last week's tragic shooting by off-duty Neptune Township Police Officer Philip Seidle.

“This review will be conducted by our Professional Responsibility Bureau to ensure a thorough review and evaluation is performed that will stand up to the scrutiny from the community.

“It is imperative that we look at this incident with a critical eye towards doing all that we can to understand what transpired and learning how, moving forward, we can improve from that evaluative process.  

“In order to clearly understand every aspect of this response, every sworn law enforcement officer involved in the incident will be part and parcel of this Internal Affairs review and evaluation.

“Our Internal Affairs function will be limited in scope to this singular incident and the actions of those officers at the scene.  Any administrative actions based on our findings that may be imposed on anyone involved will be at the discretion of the individual police departments who employ these officers.

“In order for the law enforcement community to maintain the trust of our citizens, and earn the trust of those that may question the sincerity of our efforts, this review process must be transparent.  To that end, I will be publicly releasing a report detailing our findings.    

“This will be a deliberate and all-encompassing review that will take time to complete, but rest assured this review will be conducted in as expedient manner possible for all involved.”