Bill Text: NJ A4450 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires online portal to report law enforcement officer misconduct; establishes duty to report by law enforcement officers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-23 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Community Development and Affairs Committee [A4450 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A4450-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires online portal to report law enforcement officer misconduct; establishes duty to report by law enforcement officers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the establishment of an online portal to report law enforcement officer misconduct 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.
"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 create, maintain, and update, as appropriate, an online portal, in the form of an Internet website, to be used by law enforcement officers to report certain actions of other law enforcement officers in accordance with subsections b. and c. of this section.
b. Notwithstanding and in addition to any other reporting requirements set forth in law, regulation, or policy, a law enforcement officer who observes any of the following actions committed by another law enforcement officer is required to report the action within 72 hours to the Attorney General using the online portal established in subsection a. of this section:
(1) unjustifiable use of force, pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.2C:3-7;
(2) deprivation of civil rights, pursuant to section 2 of P.L. 2003, c.3 (C.2C:30-6); or
(3) any other act which constitutes a criminal offense in this State.
c. Notwithstanding and in addition to any other reporting requirements set forth in law, regulation, or policy, a law enforcement officer who observes another law enforcement officer committing an act that does not constitute a criminal offense, but violates any policy or other regulation to which the other law enforcement officer is subject, may report the action to the Attorney General using the online portal established in subsection a. of this section.
d. The portal shall operate so that submission of a report may be completed anonymously. In the case of an anonymous submission, the portal shall create an identifier using a series of random characters in place of the personal identifying information of the reporting law enforcement officer.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following the date of enactment, except the Attorney General may take any anticipatory action as may be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Attorney General to create, maintain, and update, as appropriate, an online portal, in the form of an Internet website, to be used by law enforcement officers to report the misconduct of other law enforcement officers.
The bill provides that, in addition to any other reporting requirements set forth in law, regulation, or policy, a law enforcement officer who observes any of the following actions committed by another law enforcement officer would be required to report the action to the Attorney General using the online portal established in the bill:
(1) unjustifiable use of force, pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.2C:3-7;
(2) deprivation of civil rights, pursuant to section 2 of P.L. 2003, c.3 (C.2C:30-6); or
(3) any other act which constitutes a criminal offense in this State.
Additionally, the bill provides that a law enforcement officer who observes another law enforcement officer committing an act that does not constitute a criminal offense, but violates any policy or other regulation to which the other law enforcement officer is subject, may use the portal to report the act to the Attorney General. The bill also provides that the portal is required to operate so that submission of a report may be completed anonymously. In the case of an anonymous submission, the portal would create an identifier using a series of random characters in place of the personal identifying information of the reporting law enforcement officer.
