This inquiry seeks an opinion as to the propriety of an attorney who represents a municipality reserving to himself and his associates the exclusive representation of police department members in legal proceedings brought against those members. New Jersey municipalities are obligated by statute to provide police department members with the necessary means for defense in certain actions or proceedings brought against them.
Police officers have no absolute right to counsel of their own choosing at municipal expense.
A municipality may present an officer with the choice of either accepting assigned counsel or foregoing the benefits which are statutorily provided. The municipality must be given the opportunity to determine whether it will provide legal representation itself or whether it will approve the retention of private counsel by a police officer. As long as the police officers are offered the services of a reasonably competent attorney, the municipality has met its obligation under the statute. While in some circumstances where the municipal attorney represents a police officer a conflict of interest may not be patent, the potentiality for such a conflict is substantial. The municipal attorney's primary client is the municipality.