NJ Unveils Changes To Police Use-Of-Force Policies

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey hadn't updated its statewide use-of-force policies for law enforcement in more than 20 years. But the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May added new urgency to reform the guidelines.

Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced Monday a package of policies on the use of force, which addressed issues such as chokeholds, firing weapons and transparency of all use of force among law enforcement.

Officials developed a new electronic reporting system for all police incidents involving use of force against a civilian. Officers must report each new instance within 24 hours of the incident. A version of the online portal will become publicly available in the first quarter of 2021.

"Today’s changes are about more than just reducing unnecessary use of force by law enforcement," Grewal said. "We are also restoring the public’s trust in the work we do—which, in the long run, makes law enforcement more effective and everyone safer.”

All law enforcement in New Jersey will also undergo a two-day training program by the end of the next year on de-escalation and other tactics limiting use of force.

New Jersey's previous statewide policies guided law enforcement to avoid using force except when deemed necessary, but the former guidelines lacked specifics. The new statewide policies provide new guidance on alternatives to violence or deadly force.

See the full policy here.

All deadly force, including chokeholds and strikes to the head or neck, are only viable when "the officer reasonably believes that such action is immediately necessary to protect the officer or another person from imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury," officials said.

The policies also establish the following:

• Prohibits officers from firing weapons at a moving vehicle or engaging in a high-speed car chase, except under narrowly limited circumstances;
• Establishes an affirmative “duty to intervene” that requires all officers — regardless of rank, title, or seniority – to intercede if they observe another officer engage in illegal or excessive force against a civilian; and
• Establishes an affirmative “duty to provide medical assistance” that requires officers to request – and, where appropriate, personally provide — medical assistance after any use of force against a civilian.

New Jersey Advance Media independently collected five years of use-of-force data from all local New Jersey police departments. Encounters between police and civilians turned violent more than 40,000 times from 2012-16 in New Jersey — more than 20 times a day on average — according to nj.com.

Statewide, a Black person was more than three times more likely to face police force than a white person, according to New Jersey Advance Media. In some towns, the difference was greater. In Lakewood, a Black person was 22 times more likely to face police force than a white individual, according to the data.

But Patrick Colligan, president of the State Policeman's Benevolent Association, says the guidelines will improve New Jersey policing.

"This policy makes key changes that will protect our officers on the job while ensuring the public that New Jersey police remain the best trained in the nation," Colligan said.

The Office of Attorney General began a project to revise the state's use of force policies in June — shortly after Floyd's death. The development included dozens of community listening sessions across the state, including one in each county, and a review of more than 1,000 public comments.

Rev. Dr. Charles F. Boyer, founder of Salvation and Social Justice, held spoke to the public in cities such as Newark, Paterson and New Brunswick on police-community interactions. His organization seeks to develop public policy and educate communities on paths toward racial justice.

When speaking to community members, he heard "horrifying" accounts that gave face to the consequences of police use of force, he says.

"Salvation for Social Justice remains committed to a New Jersey with authority to kill are not the primary responders for nonviolent issues that take place in Black communities," Boyer said in Monday's news conference about the new policies. "This is not hard to imagine, as we see it every day in majority-white, affluent communities."

Grewal also praised police in Camden. The city received national recognition in the wake of Floyd's death for the fruits of disbanding and rebuilding its police department. Camden disbanded its police force in 2012 and replaced it with a regional county force.

Camden saw a 23 percent drop in violent crime from 2012-18. But that doesn't tell the whole story of Camden, or ways police improve relationships with their community.

In 2013, the new police force embraced the broken-windows model — the theory that states reducing visible offenses, such as vandalism and loitering, will create an atmosphere that prevents more serious crimes.

In the first year, summonses for disorderly conduct shot up 43 percent, according to The Washington Post. Summonses for not maintaining lights or reflectors on vehicles increased by 421 percent, and tickets for tinted car windows went up 381 percent.

In that time, Camden also saw an increase in excessive-force complaints, going from 37 in 2011 to 65 in 2014, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. But local activism led to changes in the past five years. The police department rewrote its use-of-force policies in 2015. Last year, they began requiring officers to intercede if another used force inappropriately — a policy New Jersey will bring statewide.

A major component of New Jersey's new policies is to develop trust between police and communities. But Grewal acknowledged that doesn't end with new rules on use of force.

"Black and brown communities and overemphasis on fines and fees in some communities — that’s an issue," he said. "That’s part of a separate analysis that’s being conducted not just by our office but also by the Supreme Court’s working groups on fines and fees."