NJ State Police 2nd-In-Command Accused Of Antisemitic Remark To Retire, Reports Say

TRENTON, NJ — The leadership of the New Jersey State Police will see significant changes come January, as the department's second officer in command is set to retire in the wake of accusations he made an antisemitic remark about state Attorney General Matt Platkin, who is Jewish, according to reports.

Lt. Col. Sean Kilcomons, who was accused in late 2024 in an internal complaint of referring to Platkin as "that Jew" and preventing Platkin's son from looking inside a State Police helicopter, is set to retire at the end of 2025, the New York Post reported, citing sources.

Kilcomons' retirement comes as Col. Patrick J. Callahan, superintendent of the state police, announced his retirement, also by the end of the year. Callahan told his staff that he had been informed by Gov.-Elect Mikie Sherrill that he would not be renominated to lead the State Police, the New York Times reported.

Callahan, who was appointed superintendent in 2017, named Kilcomons his second-in-command in about 2021, the New Jersey Monitor reported. His promotion prompted a discrimination lawsuit, the report said.

The State Police leadership has been under scrutiny for more than a year over the department's response to a report by the Attorney General's office found what Platkin called "deeply troubling conduct and systemic problems," including racial profiling and bullying.

The Times report said the attorney general's office has been looking into a slowdown in traffic enforcement and spike in serious crashes that happened not long after the report was released.

The New York Post report said the remark was alleged to have been made by Kilcomons during a "Take Your Child To Work" event.

“I don’t want that Jew’s kid in the State Police helicopter. Tell him not to land,” Kilcomons allegedly said about Platkin and his son during the event, according to an anonymous letter sent to the state's Public Integrity and Accountability Unit, The Post reported last fall.

Platkin and Gov. Phil Murphy denounced the remark, and Murphy was under pressure to fire Callahan and Kilcomons in the wake of the report on discrimination and bullying in the State Police, the New Jersey Monitor reported.

“Antisemitism of any kind has no place in our society. The alleged comment about Attorney General Platkin and his son, if true, is abhorrent and contrary to the values of the New Jersey State Police and my entire administration,” Murphy said at the time.

Platkin recused himself from the investigation, he said at the time.