High-ranking NJ State Police official leaving amid firestorm over alleged antisemitic remark at kid’s event: sources

New Jersey State Police’s second-in-command, who was accused of making an antisemitic remark at a children’s event, will hit the road by the time Mikie Sherrill becomes governor next month, The Post has learned.

Lt. Col. Sean Kilcomons is set to leave the force by the start of the year, along with NJSP Superintendent Patrick Callahan, sources and officials said this week.

Kilcomons faced a firestorm last year when an internal complaint accused the high-ranking police official of spewing an offensive comment directed at state Attorney General Matt Platkin, who is Jewish, during a “Bring Your Child to Work Day” event on April 25, 2024.

“I don’t want that Jew’s kid in the State Police helicopter,” Kilcomons allegedly said in reference to Platkin and his son possibly looking inside a department chopper during the event, according to a report lodged with the AG’s Public Integrity and Accountability Unit, The Post reported last fall.

An investigation was launched into the allegations, and an attorney general spokesperson said Wednesday there was no update on the probe.

A source said Kilcomons is going to retire as Sherrill, a Democratic former congresswoman, isn’t interested in keeping him on.

The NJSP didn’t return a request for comment.

When asked whether Sherrill had any interest in keeping Callahan or Kilcomons on the force, her transition team referred The Post to an X post she sent out Monday calling Callahan’s service “commendable” and wishing him well in retirement.

Callahan announced Monday he was retiring and would “not be renominated by the incoming administration,” according to a press release issued by term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy.

In a letter sent to the department before the announcement and obtained by The Post, Callahan told troopers serving as head of the agency “has been the highest honor of my life.”

But the agency has been roiled in turmoil, including black activists calling on Murphy to oust both Callahan and Kilcomons.

Bishop Jethro James, a state police chaplain, slammed Kilcomons as a “racist” and told The Post this week his exit “is a long time coming.”

James said that while the department could face legal liability in part over Kilcomons’ alleged actions during his tenure, he insisted “at least he will no longer have any say in the day-to-day operations of New Jersey State troopers and for that I am grateful.”

Two probes released by the attorney general’s office last year found “deeply troubling and systemic problems” in the police force, including alleged discrimination and weaponizing internal affairs against some troopers.

The department is also facing a misconduct investigation after troopers issued fewer traffic tickets following a report alleging racial disparities among those hit with traffic infractions, according to the New York Times, citing court docs and people familiar with the proceedings.

The enforcement slowdown stretched between July 2023 and March 2024, the Times reported.

A union representing state police supervisors argued in a court filing the traffic report warned every trooper that any stop could be a possibly unconstitutional act, the Times reported.

That fear led union leaders to warn troopers about the “perils of motor vehicle stops,” according to the filing, though a Callahan spokesperson told the newspaper he did not endorse a wind down in traffic enforcement.