Bill Text: NJ A2964 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides for issuance of a uniform identification card for all law enforcement officers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-08 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A2964 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A2964-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Provides for issuance of a uniform identification card for all law enforcement officers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act providing for the issuance of uniform identification cards for law enforcement officers, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and amending P.L.1985, c.69.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. As used in this act:
"Digital" means an encoding of information into a binary numerical form.
"Digital photograph" means a certified color image of a particular law enforcement officer's face which can be verified and authenticated by electronic means.
"Law enforcement officer" means any person who is employed as a permanent full-time member of any State, county, or municipal law enforcement agency, department, or division of those governments who is statutorily empowered to act for the detection, investigation, arrest, conviction, detention, or rehabilitation of persons violating the criminal laws of this State and statutorily required to successfully complete a training course approved by, or certified as being substantially equivalent to a course approved by, the Police Training Commission pursuant to P.L.1961, c.56 (C.52:17B-66 et seq.).
b. The Attorney General shall direct the Superintendent of State Police to develop and distribute a uniform identification card to the law enforcement officers of this State. The card shall be distinctive and easily distinguishable by the public as an official, State issued law enforcement officer identification card. The information on the card shall include a digital photograph of the law enforcement officer, the officer's name, the name and address of the law enforcement agency employing the officer, and any other information and encrypted data the Attorney General shall deem appropriate and necessary.
c. The Attorney General shall establish guidelines to effectuate the purposes of this act. Those guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, the manner in which law enforcement agencies shall notify the Superintendent of the law enforcement officers in their employ who are eligible and entitled to the identification cards authorized under this act.
d. There shall be annually appropriated from the moneys deposited in the "Criminal History Record Information Fund", established pursuant to P.L.1985, c.69 (C.53:1-20.5 et seq.), any money necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
2. Section 3 of P.L.1985, c.69 (C.53:1-20.7) is amended to read as follows:
3. a. There is created in the Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety a separate special account to be known as the "Criminal History Record Information Fund." All moneys paid to the Division of State Police pursuant to section 2 of this act shall be deposited in the fund.
b. Moneys in the "Criminal History Record Information Fund" shall be used for the expenses of the State Bureau of Identification and for the expenses of the Department of Law and Public Safety related to processing criminal history record background checks submitted in noncriminal matters, the expenses associated with the development and distribution of uniform identification cards for law enforcement officers pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and, subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting, in the Department of the Treasury, for the purchase and equipping of new or replacement State Police vehicles. Any State Police vehicles purchased with funds from the "Criminal History Record Information Fund" pursuant to this section shall be utilized solely for patrol and pursuit purposes by state troopers, and shall not be assigned to any State Police employee for personal or administrative use.
(cf: P.L.1994, c.60, s.5)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides for the development and distribution of uniform identification cards for law enforcement officers in the State. At present, there are more than 500 different State and local law enforcement agencies in New Jersey, each issuing its own official identification card. This plethora of cards can create confusion for the public and problems for officers attempting to establish their official identity.
Under the provisions of the bill, the Superintendent of State Police, at the direction of the Attorney General, is to develop and distribute a uniform identification card to all permanent, full-time law enforcement officers. The identification card is to be distinctive and easily distinguishable by the general public as a State issued law enforcement officer identification card. The information on the card is to include a digital photograph of the law enforcement officer, the officer's name, the name and address of the law enforcement agency employing the officer, and any other information and encrypted data the Attorney General deems appropriate and necessary.
The bill specifies that the program costs associated with the development and distribution of these identification cards are to be paid from the moneys deposited in the Criminal History Record Information Fund, established pursuant to P.L.1985, c.69 (C.53:1-20.5 et seq.).
