Senior Accident Reconstructionist
ACTAR #965

Mr. Kuipers has a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Criminal Justice and Psychology, as well as a Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University. He received training through Northwestern University in the field of Accident Reconstruction prior to obtaining full accreditation as a Traffic Accident Reconstructionist from the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction in January, 1999.

Mr. Kuipers has been an employee of John Desch Associates since 1998, joining the organization as a full-time employee in 2009. As a Senior Accident Reconstructionist at JDA, Mr. Kuipers relies on over twenty-five years of experience as a police officer with a medium-sized police department in Bergen County, NJ, and ten years as an Investigator with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Fatal Accident Investigation Unit. Mr. Kuipers retired as a Lieutenant with the Mahwah, NJ, Police Department after commanding the Traffic Office for several years. His duties included investigating all serious and fatal motor vehicle accidents and preparing cases for criminal prosecution.

As an Investigator and Team Leader with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Mr. Kuipers was responsible for both investigating serious and fatal motor vehicle collisions in Bergen County that resulted in criminal prosecution, and assisting Bergen County police agencies that did not have the services of a trained accident reconstructionist with serious and fatal accidents. As a police officer, Mr. Kuipers investigated, or assisted with the investigation of, over 1,000 motor vehicle accidents, some within moments of occurrence. He was responsible for the initial investigation, interviewing of witnesses and accident participants, photographing the collision scene, roadway evidence and vehicles, preparing scale diagrams through the use of the Laser Technology data collection system, and preparing the final report and criminal charges, when necessary. He has testified in criminal and civil courts as both a fact witness and an expert accident reconstructionist.

Mr. Kuipers is also a Child Passenger Safety Technician, certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Prior to retiring from police service, he was the Bergen County Association of Chiefs of Police Child Passenger Safety Committee Chairman and, as such, conducted Child Passenger Safety checkpoints and over 500 car seat installations. He was also a police instructor at the Bergen County Law and Public Safety Institute for law enforcement officers and trained others to be NHTSA-certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians.

Mr. Kuipers is a trained Crash Data Retrieval technician and has imaged the data collected by the Electronic Data Recorders of vehicles for accident investigation and criminal prosecution. He received additional training in pedestrian accident reconstruction and commercial vehicle accident reconstruction, as well as other related topics. Mr. Kuipers conducted coefficient of friction testing for the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and initiated a review process for Township-owned vehicle collisions in Mahwah. He was responsible for reviewing all motor vehicle accidents involving Mahwah Police vehicles as the Internal Affairs Officer, and brings the unique perspective of law enforcement to the investigation of motor vehicle accident reconstruction.

Mr. Kuipers resides in Mahwah with his wife Sheila and two sons, Jack and Paul. His recreational interests are hiking and bicycling. Mr. Kuipers also volunteers as a Troop Committee member and Assistant Scoutmaster for Boy Scouts of America, Troop 50 in Mahwah.

Bruce brings the experience of having been a police traffic officer with a medium-sized police agency for twenty-five years and an investigator with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office for ten years into the field of accident reconstruction, and is just one of the highly trained and skilled Associates here at JDA.