Essex County Prosecutor's Office

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Essex County Prosecutor's Office" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (May 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office (ECPO) is the largest and busiest county prosecutor's office in the State of New Jersey. It consists of approximately 140 assistant prosecutors (attorneys at law), 160 detectives licensed to carry arms, and 125 support staff. It is headquartered at the Essex County Government Complex.

ECPO presently processes between 16,000 and 20,000 adult defendants charged with criminal acts per year. In addition, between 3,500 and 5,000 juveniles are processed each year through delinquency proceedings. Most of these defendants are arrested and charged by local or county-level law enforcement agencies, but ECPO also originates charges against defendants through its own investigatory units, and via direct indictment by the Essex County Grand Jury (i.e., charges issued directly by the grand jury and not prior to grand jury review). Between 5,000 and 6,000 adult defendants are indicted in Essex County each year. Essex County currently accounts for about 18% of all criminal (felony) cases referred to county prosecutors' offices in New Jersey. Approximately 35% of the state's homicides and 14% of sexual assaults occur in Essex.