Bill Text: NJ A4075 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits school districts to employ safe schools resource officers or Class Three special law enforcement officers for security purposes, and requires school districts to have agreement with local law enforcement governing placement of school security personnel.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee [A4075 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4075-Introduced.html
ASSEMBLY, No. 4075
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED MARCH 14, 2024
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUŅOZ
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Permits school districts to employ safe schools resource officers or Class Three special law enforcement officers for security purposes, and requires school districts to have agreement with local law enforcement governing placement of school security personnel.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning security personnel at public schools and supplementing chapter 41 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A school district may elect to employ a safe schools resource officer or a Class Three special law enforcement officer to provide security services at a school building during the hours when the school is in session.
b. The State shall provide the funds necessary for a school district that elects to employ safe schools resource officers or Class Three special law enforcement officers, who are hired after the effective date of this act, pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
2. A school district that employs school security personnel shall enter into a written agreement with the local law enforcement agency to stipulate the terms and conditions governing the placement of the security personnel in school buildings. In the case of a school district located in a municipality in which there is no municipal police department, the district shall enter into a written agreement with an entity designated by the Superintendent of the State Police.
The agreement shall include, but not be limited to: the chain of command; roles and responsibilities of school security personnel while on school property; work hours and conditions; required qualifications and experience; channels of communication; required training and continuing professional development; and authority to carry firearms.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and be operative on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill permits public schools to have a safe schools resource officer or a Class Three special law enforcement officer present at the school building to provide security services during the hours that school is in session. Under the bill, the State is to fund the costs for a school district that elects to employ safe schools resource officers or Class Three special law enforcement officers who are hired after the bill's effective date.
In addition, the bill provides that a school district that employs school security personnel is required to enter into a written agreement with the local law enforcement agency or an entity designated by the Superintendent of the State Police, as appropriate, to stipulate the terms and conditions governing the placement of the security personnel in school buildings. The agreement is to include: the chain of command; roles and responsibilities of school security personnel while on school property; work hours and conditions; required qualifications and experience; channels of communication; required training and continuing professional development; and authority to carry firearms.
