NJ neighbor’s racism finally landed him in prison. Why did police keep letting him get away with it?

State officials have found sufficient merit to civil rights concerns by Black residents who were victimized by a Burlington County man who went to prison for racist, bullying behavior.

Edward C. Mathews is serving an eight-year prison term after pleading guilty in 2023 to four counts of bias intimidation.

The Mount Laurel man was arrested four years ago, violently harassing neighbors and hurling racial slurs at them.

Viral video of Mount Laurel racist slurs sparked 2021 charges

Mathews was captured on video in July 2021 in footage that went viral on social media.

A rowdy protest formed outside his home in the following days.

Mathews was later arrested on harassment and more than a dozen other charges.

Investigators found evidence that he had fired ball bearings at two vehicles belonging to female neighbors, causing $2,350 in damage.

Read More: Mt. Laurel, NJ ‘neighbor from hell’ pleads guilty, faces prison 

This week, the state Division of Civil Rights said that the Mount Laurel Police Department failed to provide “critical bias-incident response services” for years prior to his arrest.

Mathews’s conduct escalated as police racked up 40 complaints from neighbors who were minorities.

State investigators interviewed numerous Mount Laurel police officers, including a retired police chief.

They also reviewed internal police communications, which show that officers were aware of Mathews’s pattern of harassment before his arrest.

Despite those complaints, none of the officers said that they had questioned Mathews earlier than July 2021. Some officers even said “they did not want to anger or incite Mathews.”

Several officers did not believe that race was a factor in Mathews’ harassing conduct, even though Black residents voiced that possibility.

State findings at odds with Burlington County review of Edward Mathews case

The finding of probable cause by state prosecutors is at odds with an independent review by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office months after Mathews’ arrest.

“It is difficult to find fault with MLPD on an incident-by-incident basis,” Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in the report issued in November 2021.

The county prosecutor’s review found no indication of special treatment for Mathews.
It did say that if the police department had used a “holistic” approach, the racist pattern of harassment might have been confirmed sooner.

Parties in Mt. Laurel civil rights case have chance to settle

The state’s finding of probable cause advances the discrimination case. Both sides now have an opportunity to negotiate a settlement.

If none is reached, the state will appoint a deputy attorney general to pursue the case before a judge.

Mathews' maximum prison term is set to end July 8, 2027. He is currently eligible for parole starting in September of next year.

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