A5010

An Act concerning law enforcement officers and the duty to intervene and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. For the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

“Criminal offense” means an act which constitutes a first, second, third, or fourth degree crime, a disorderly persons offense, and a petty disorderly persons offense.

“Intervene” means come between, whether verbally or physically, in order to prevent or alter a result or course of events.

“Law enforcement officer” means a person whose public duties include the power to act as an officer for the detection, apprehension, arrest, and conviction of offenders against the laws of this State.

2. a. The Attorney General shall promulgate a model policy establishing a duty to intervene for law enforcement officers in this State.

(1) The policy shall include an affirmative duty to intervene if a law enforcement officer witnesses another law enforcement officer engage in any of the following:

(a) an unjustifiable use of force pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.2C:3-7;

(b) a deprivation of civil rights pursuant to section 2 of P.L. 2003, c.3 (C.2C:30-6);

(d) any other act requiring intervention, as determined by the Attorney General.

(2) The policy shall include disciplinary action for a law enforcement officer who fails to intervene when required under the provisions of the policy.

b. Each agency, department, or other entity that employs law enforcement officers in this State shall:

(1) adopt the policy established by the Attorney General pursuant to subsection a. of this section or a policy that is substantially identical. An entity adopting its own policy shall make application in a manner to be determined by the Attorney General for approval of the policy prior to adoption; and

(2) report on a quarterly annual basis to the Attorney General each incidence of an intervention committed by a law enforcement officer employed by the agency, department, or other entity for that

time period, pursuant to the provisions set forth in the policy.

c. The Attorney General shall prepare and submit to the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), an annual report, which shall summarize the quarterly reports received pursuant to subsection c. of this section.

3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Attorney General to establish a model duty-to-intervene policy for law enforcement officers, and requires each agency, department, or other entity that employs law enforcement officers in the State to adopt the policy or one that is substantially identical.

Under the bill, the policy would be required to include an affirmative duty to intervene if a law enforcement officer witnesses another law enforcement officer engage in any of the following:

(1) an unjustifiable use of force;

(2) a deprivation of civil rights;

(3) any other act which constitutes a criminal offense in this State; and

(4) any other act requiring intervention, as determined by the Attorney General.

The bill also requires the policy to include disciplinary action for a law enforcement officer who fails to intervene when required under its provisions.

The bill further provides that each agency, department, or other entity that employs law enforcement officers in this State would be required to adopt the policy established by the Attorney General or a policy that is substantially identical. An entity adopting its own policy would be required to make application to the Attorney General for approval of the policy prior to adoption.

Additionally, the bill contains reporting requirements. Under the bill’s provisions, entities that employ law enforcement officers would be required to report on a quarterly annual basis to the Attorney General each incidence of an intervention committed by a law enforcement officer employed by the entity for that time period. The Attorney General would be required to report annually to the Legislature a summary of the quarterly reports.