Gregory Garcia was a New Jersey police officer employed by the Wharton Police Department. Following a search of his residence, he was charged with multiple firearms-related offenses. On November 14, 2022, he entered a guilty plea to possession of a large capacity ammunition magazine in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-3(j), and a fourth-degree crime. The trial court sentenced him to a one-year term of noncustodial probation, and a judgment of conviction was entered in January 2023.
In May 2024, the New Jersey Training Commission notified Garcia that it was moving to revoke his law enforcement license pursuant to New Jersey’s Police Training Act and its implementing regulations. The notice advised that revocation was mandatory because Garcia had been “convicted” of a disqualifying offense. Garcia requested a hearing and asked that the matter be held in abeyance while he pursued direct appeals of his criminal conviction. The Commission declined, explaining that it was “statutorily required” to revoke the license once a judgment of conviction had been entered. On June 5, 2024, the Commission issued a final agency decision revoking Garcia’s license, finding him “statutorily ineligible to hold a law enforcement license.”
Garcia appealed.
On appeal to the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, Garcia argued that revocation was premature because his conviction was not “final” while his appeals were pending. He also urged the Court to reverse the revocation “in the interests of justice,” even if his criminal appeals ultimately failed.
The Court rejected both arguments. The Court explained that the Police Training Act expressly mandates revocation when an officer has been convicted of a crime. The statute provides that “the commission shall revoke a law enforcement officer’s license” upon conviction, and the Commission’s regulations likewise require revocation upon “[p]roof of a conviction.” The Court emphasized that this language leaves no room for discretion.
The Court further held that Garcia’s understanding of “conviction” was incorrect. Under long-settled New Jersey law, a conviction occurs when a defendant pleads guilty and the trial court enters a judgment of conviction, not after all appeals have been exhausted. Citing prior appellate decisions, the Court reiterated that an administrative consequence tied to a conviction “occurs upon conviction in the trial court and not only after the expiration of all appeals.” Because Garcia pled guilty and a judgment of conviction was entered, the statutory trigger for revocation was satisfied.
The Court also rejected Garcia’s reliance on cases recognizing discretionary relief in other contexts, such as pension forfeiture. Unlike those statutes, the Police Training Act contains a clear, mandatory command. Once the statutory condition is met, the Commission “simply had no discretion.”
Because the Commission acted in accordance with an express statutory mandate, its decision was neither arbitrary nor unreasonable. The Court therefore affirmed the revocation of Garcia’s law enforcement license.
In the Matter of Gregory Garcia v. New Jersey Police Training Commission, 2025 WL 3121564 (N.J. App. Div. Nov. 7, 2025).