Sponsored by:
Senator BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires chief law enforcement officer of municipal police departments to hold two community roundtables on police relations each year.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain police community roundtables and supplementing chapter 14 of Title 40A of the New Jersey statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The chief law enforcement officer of a municipality shall sponsor an open community roundtable discussion on police relations at least twice per calendar year. One community roundtable shall be held in the spring and one community roundtable shall be held in the fall.
b. To maximize community participation, the sponsor of the community roundtable shall provide ample notice to the community, hold the roundtable at a central location in the municipality, and schedule the roundtable in the evening.
c. Topics to be addressed at the community roundtable shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) race relations and racial profiling;
(2) recruitment, selection, and retention of officers;
(3) training and education of recruits and supervisors;
(4) regulation of body worn cameras; and
(5) use of force, police misconduct, and internal affairs investigations.
2. a. The Superintendent of State Police annually shall sponsor in the northern, central, and southern regions of the State an open community roundtable discussion on police relations at least once per calendar year in each region.
b. To maximize community participation, the sponsor of the regional community roundtable shall provide ample notice to the regional community, hold the roundtable at a central location, and schedule the roundtable during evening hours.
c. Topics to be addressed at the regional community roundtable shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) race relations and racial profiling;
(2) recruitment, selection, and retention of officers;
(3) training and education of recruits and supervisors;
(4) regulation of body worn cameras; and
(5) use of force, police misconduct, and internal affairs investigations.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires certain law enforcement officials to hold periodic community roundtables on police relations.
Under the amended bill, the chief law enforcement officer of each municipal police department in this State is required to sponsor at least two community roundtables on police relations each year, and the Superintendent of State police is required to sponsor in the northern, central, and southern regions of the State an open community roundtable discussion on police relations at least once per calendar year in each region. To maximize community participation, the bill requires the sponsor of the regional community roundtable to provide ample notice to the regional community, hold the roundtable at a central location, and schedule the roundtable during evening hours.
Topics to be addressed at the community roundtables include race relations and racial profiling; recruitment, selection, and retention of officers; training and education of recruits and supervisors; regulation of body worn cameras; and use of force, police misconduct, and internal affairs investigations.