State Police Progress
New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety
Message fr
om Attorney General John J. Farmer
from
Farmer,, Jr
Jr..
As Attorney General, I take great pride in the progress we have made
to date in our effort to make the New Jersey State Police the nation’s finest and most diverse statewide law enforcement agency.
We have strengthened the State Police as a crime-fighting and crime-prevention entity. We have built important bridges between the State Police
and the diverse citizenry it protects. And we have made significant strides in
the effort to combat public cynicism and enhance public confidence.
To be certain, the job of reform is not finished. But I am convinced
we are on the right path. And I believe the most prudent course of action at this point is to continue to give our reforms time to work.
The Division of State Police and my office, through the Office of State Police Affairs, remain committed to positive change. We remain committed to encouraging good police work and discouraging improper patrol tactics. We remain committed to demanding accountability at every level.
We also continue to promote, on a day-to-day basis, better relations between the State Police and the citizens it protects through vigorous, statewide community policing efforts. And
we are making important progress in fulfilling the terms of separate Consent Decrees entered
into with the U.S. Justice Department and the NAACP.
I want to take this opportunity to personally thank State Police Superintendent Col. Carson
J. Dunbar, Jr., Assistant Attorney General Martin Cronin, head of the Office of State Police Affairs, First Assistant Attorney General Paul H. Zoubek and department administrator Thomas J.
O’Reilly, for their tireless efforts on behalf of State Police reform.
Though I have recognized these individuals for their outstanding contributions to the State
Police reform process, I would be remiss if I did not mention the hard work and professionalism
of many additional people within my office and the State Police. It is only through their consistent commitment that we’ve achieved our current progress.
It is a new era within the State Police, a time of historic change and important new challenges. I hope you will find this report useful. We hope that it is merely the first report of many that
will keep you abreast of the many exciting developments occurring within the State Police.
Message fr
om Colonel Carson J. Dunbar
from
Dunbar,, Jr
Jr..
As Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, I am pleased to
provide you this status report on the historic changes taking place within the organization.
Although much work remains to be done, I believe that over the
past two years we have gone a long way toward building a statewide
police force that reflects the diverse population it serves and toward creating a culture of accountability from top-to-bottom.
We have sent a clear message that disparate treatment of the public
in any form will not be tolerated and that, above all else, New Jersey is
committed to enforcing the law even-handedly and with compassion.
We have implemented new standard operating procedures and adopted training strategies
focused on cultural sensitivity and other topics integral to modern police work.
We have made an unprecedented investment in technology, information systems that
will enable us to evaluate – on a regular basis and with great precision – how well we are
doing in our quest to provide comprehensive police protection while ensuring the equal
treatment of all persons under the law.
The road to change has not always been smooth. There has been controversy. There has
been disagreement. There has been resistance. But there has also been the hard work and the
optimism of many committed public servants to sustain us.
And there has been the ongoing, cooperative effort of many dedicated people within the
clergy, the education community, in positions of civic leadership and among those who advocate on behalf of minorities and women, as well as others.
On behalf the State Police, I assure you that we will not waver in our commitment to both
protecting the public and preserving individual rights.
Summer 2001
Introduction
From the recruiting process to training and
from highway patrols to personnel supervision,
the New Jersey State Police is an agency in the
midst of historic change.
Consistent with the vision of founder Col.
Norman Schwarzkopf – that Troopers should
always enforce the law impartially and “maintain the good opinion of the people” – the
agency has undertaken many key reforms including new standard operating procedures
(SOP) for motor vehicle stops and the use of
cutting-edge technology to create a comprehensive record of all such encounters.
In short, New Jersey is at the cutting edge
in addressing what is perhaps one of the most
significant social issues facing our nation: the disparate treatment of minorities by police, both real
and perceived, and what to do about it.
At the same time, new initiatives are either
planned or under way to ensure fairness within
the State Police on such issues as equal employment opportunity, internal affairs investigations, personnel evaluations and the promotion
and discipline of troopers.
Background
Although the pace and focus of State Police
reform was influenced by a number of external
factors that began to develop in 1998, the seeds
of change were sown internally before then.
Beginning in early 1996, for example, the
Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) undertook a comprehensive study of State Police hiring, staffing, organizational and promotions
practices. A respected consulting agency that
provides technical assistance to police agencies on
management and organizational issues, PERF
conducted its study at the request of the State
Police and the Office of the Attorney General.
Upon completion of its work, PERF called
for significant change in State Police staffing
policies and procedures. Indeed, the PERF recommendations became a template for many of
the reforms now in place or planned concerning the recruitment and hiring of prospective
troopers, the evaluation of trooper performance
by supervisors and the merit-based promotion
of State Police personnel.
In addition, the early phase of State Police
staffing-related reform saw the beginning of a
concurrent, internal evaluation of agency needs focontinued on page 2
State Police
Progress
Introduction
continued from page 1
New Jersey’s acknowledgment of racial
profiling as real – along with its aggressive efforts to eliminate discriminatory practices and
ensure equal treatment of all persons under the
law – has made the state a national leader on
the issue of profiling-related reform.
cused on the “tools of the trade” – the equipment,
technology and other resources needed to enable
troopers to most effectively do their jobs.
But despite the
Office of
groundwork for
“The New Jersey State Police
State Police
change that had been
and the Office of State Police
laid by April of
Affairs
Affairs have moved expeditiously
1998, a tragic event
A key ingredient
to implement these tasks, and,
during that month
in
the
success of reclearly helped to acgiven the complexity of affecting
form efforts to date
celerate the process of
change in complex organizais the Office of State
State Police reform
tions, have made significant
Police Affairs, an enand to set its priorities.
strides
in
bringing
the
organizatity created in the
On April 23,
tion
into
compliance
with
the
fall of 1999 to en1998, during a mosure compliance
requirements
of
this
decree.”
tor vehicle stop on
with the State Police
the New Jersey Turn-- Independent Monitors’ Report
Review Team’s recpike, State Troopers
[January 10, 2001]
ommendations.
shot at a van occuLocated within
pied by four unthe
Office of the Atarmed men. Three of
torney
General,
the
Office
of
State Police Afthe men were wounded.
fairs
provides
technical
assistance
and trainIn the wake of the shooting, the New Jering. It also has an oversight role in the investisey Office of the Attorney General formed a
gation of alleged State Police misconduct. The
State Police Review Team to conduct a more
office also provides general legal counsel to
expansive study of agency practices and procethe State Police but does not represent or produres than had ever been done before.
vide defense for State Police or its personnel.
A particular focus of the initial review was
In its effort to help facilitate change, the
allegations of “racial profiling” by State Police
Office
of State Police Affairs has sought out –
– the targeting of motorists for traffic stops
and received – input from members of every
and subsequent investigative activity solely on
State Police rank from Trooper to Colonel.
the basis of their race or ethnicity.
The Office has also solicited input from
Allegations of disparate treatment by State
each
of
the labor unions that represent State PoPolice had been aired previously in New Jersey,
lice
members
for collective bargaining purposes.
but they intensified after the nationally publiOn
the
basis
of this input, some proposed
cized Turnpike shooting incident.
revisions to State Police operating procedure
In April 1999, while still pursuing its
were scrapped early on in favor of alternate
broader mission of an agency-wide study, the
strategies that offered stronger protections for
Review Team issued a report concluding that
both the public and for State Police members
the problem of disparate treatment of minority
while also promoting the practice of evenmotorists by troopers along the New Jersey
handed law enforcement.
Turnpike was real.
The Office of State Police Affairs also
Entitled the Interim Report of the State Poplayed a lead role in negotiating the Consent
lice Review Team Regarding Allegations of Racial
Decree entered into by the U.S. Justice DepartProfiling, the report recommended fundamental
ment and New Jersey in December of 1999.
change throughout the eighty-year-old State Police organization. The Final Report of the State
Consent Decree
Police Review Team followed suit in July 1999.
Several recommendations of the State PoThe product of months of negotiation,
lice Review Team were ultimately embodied in
the Consent Decree identified a variety of tasks
a Consent Decree entered into between the
required to strengthen State Police policies and
U.S. Justice Department and the State of New
procedures and called for completion of those
Jersey in December of 1999.
tasks in phases.
By that time, however, the State Police had alThe underlying philosophy of the Conready begun implementing many of the PERF
sent
Decree
is basic: if discriminatory treatrecommendations, as well as other reforms dement
is
made
difficult to conceal, it will be
signed to make the State Police a stronger, betterunlikely
to
occur.
equipped and more diverse police agency.
2
As a result, the decree embodies an anti-profiling approach to highway traffic enforcement
and requires Troopers to report detailed information when making a motor vehicle stop.
The level of information required escalates
when a Trooper elects to use his or her discretion
to ask a driver to step out of the vehicle, subject
the driver to extensive questioning, consent to a
search of the vehicle, submit to frisking, etc.
The premise behind such a requirement is that
it will reward proper Trooper conduct and, elsewhere, will help supervisors to identify improper
use of discretion or patterns of such conduct.
To provide an objective source for evaluation of New Jersey’s progress in complying with
the Consent Decree – as well as to assess the
quality of its reform effort – a U.S. District
Court Judge appointed a two-person Independent Monitoring Team.
To date, the team has issued a series of quarterly reports praising the “substantial” progress of
State Police reforms. Specifically, the monitors
have praised the use of in-car audio and video recording equipment, sophisticated data collection
methods and other strategies to create a culture
of accountability from top-to-bottom.
In addition, they have cited State Police
training efforts as state-of-the-art and praised
the quality and fairness of the agency’s internal
misconduct investigations.
Of course, there are no shortcuts or
quick-fixes.
Notwithstanding the success of reform efforts to date, there is still much work to be done.
The process of achieving meaningful
change in an organization as large, multi-faceted and complex as the State Police is difficult,
costly and time-consuming.
But despite these realities, there are signs
that the effort to fundamentally change the
State Police are paying dividends in the form of
increased public confidence and broadening
support of the new policies and procedures
from within the State Police itself.
New Jersey remains committed to eliminating the practice of racial profiling and to the
equal treatment of all persons under the law. ◆
Training
Like virtually every other aspect of State
Police operations, trooper training has undergone significant change in the past two years.
Through new training strategies, the acquisition of cutting-edge technology and an enhanced focus on such issues as cultural sensitivity, newly-graduated State Police troopers
are among the best-prepared law enforcement
officers in the nation. In addition, continued
in-service training programs for veteran troopers and those who hold leadership rank is ensuring that, from top-to-bottom, the New Jersey State Police is among the nation’s besttrained law enforcement agencies.
In training its new trooper recruits for
work in today’s complex, increasingly more diverse society, the State Police has:
❖ Adopted an entirely new, interactive training
approach known as the Action Adult-Based
Learning Methodology. This format uses roleplaying exercises, virtual training scenarios,
student presentations and other state-of-the-art
methods in a more individualized approach to
policing instruction.
❖ Provided comprehensive training in the
use of police computer systems and supplied
each trooper recruit with a laptop computer.
The laptops can be used to obtain quick,
accurate police-related information and to
enter reports directly into a revamped State
Police Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD)
data-collection system.
❖ Significantly reduced, starting in
September 2000 with the 119th State Police
recruit class, the size of each training class from
its previous level of between 100-150 cadets
to fewer than 50 cadets. This change resulted
from observation of a successful, more
individualized training approach used by the
Royal Canadien Mounted Police (RCMP).
The RCMP was one of several police agencies
observed by New Jersey State Police as the
agency shaped its reform strategies.
❖ Made significant changes to the State
Police Trooper/Coach training program.
Trooper coaches work directly with new
academy graduates, providing them with an
additional period of on-the-job mentoring
before they assume independent road duty.
The revised Trooper/Coach criteria requires
that any trooper seeking to become a Trooper/
Coach complete a five-day course and
undergo a comprehensive evaluation of his or
her ability to effectively train new troopers. In
addition, two trooper coaches are now
assigned to each new trooper instead of one.
❖ Incorporated other training advances
such as the use of firearms simulation
scenarios, an instructor/recruit mentor
program and wireless Internet laptop
research supported by a newly appointed
Training Academy librarian.
❖ Required every trooper to undergo
extensive training with regard to what
represents a legal search and seizure under the
Constitution and what does not. In addition,
troopers take part in extensive training and
role-playing exercises focused on cultural
awareness and sensitivity, human dignity,
community policing and community
relations. In the area of cultural diversity,
trooper recruits receive instruction from
representatives of the Anti-Defamation League
and other ethnic, cultural and professional
organizations.
❖ Incorporated a new language course known
as “Spanish for Law Enforcement Officers.” This
course provides extensive instruction for both
recruits-in-training and troopers on duty. The
goal is for troopers to be able to communicate
more readily with Spanish-speaking crime and
accident victims, potential witnesses, criminal
suspects and others.
It is encouraging to note that, as part of
its ongoing review of State Police reform
efforts, the Independent Monitoring Team
appointed by the federal courts has observed
the new training strategies at work and been
favorably impressed.
The Independent Monitoring Team has
concluded that – with regard to training
cadets on the avoidance of race or ethnicity as
“The training provided on
[Constitutional law concerning
search and seizure and nondiscrimination] by the state is
truly state-of-the-art.... The training would be a step forward for
any law enforcement agency in
America concerned with the
issue of racial profiling.”
-- Independent Monitors’ Report
[July 17, 2001]
a sole basis for stopping a driver or taking
investigative action – instructional staff at the
State Police Academy consistently go beyond
the requirements set down in a Consent
Decree between New Jersey and the U.S.
Justice Department.
The team has also lauded New Jersey’s
revamped approach to trooper training as one
that elicits “critical thinking, problem-solving
and decision making” from the recruits while
also emphasizing high quality service and
public safety as primary concerns.
New Jersey State Police has “established
the state of the art for ethics and integrity
training for large law enforcement agencies”
the Independent Monitoring Team wrote in
one of its quarterly reports on the progress of
reform efforts.
Through ongoing evaluation and, where
necessary, adjustment, State Police will
continue to provide state-of-the-art trooper
training and to set a high standard of
excellence for the preparation of law
enforcement officers. ◆
State Police Recruiting Billboard
3
State Police
Progress
Recruitment and Promotion
Acting on the philosophy that new standard operating procedures and state-of-the-art
technology are only as effective as the people
who use them, the State Police has committed
itself to an aggressive recruiting strategy and the
adoption of a clearly defined, more specifically
merit-based system of promoting personnel.
In the past two years, State Police recruiters
have worked closely with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), the Black Ministers Council of New
Jersey, the Anti-Defamation League, leaders of
the Hispanic and Asian communities and representatives of women’s groups, as well as colleges, the U.S. Armed Forces, local law enforcement and others to encourage qualified individuals from all backgrounds to apply to become troopers. These recruiting efforts have
had a significant impact. Through a variety of
successful recruiting strategies, the State Police
expects to have added approximately 500 new
troopers by June 2002 – troopers recruited,
selected and trained via all-new processes.
Encouragingly, minorities and women
conferences, many of them focused on issues
vital to women and minorities.
❖ Spent in excess of $1 million since 1999
on advertising designed to attract qualified candidates and create widespread awareness of the
agency’s recruitment message that: “Our Careers Suit All Kinds of People.” Much of this
advertising has been done via major electronic
and print media outlets and through use of
billboards and bus placards. However, advertising through Internet job sites and media that
primarily serve college students, women and
minorities has also been a vital component.
❖ Entered into a Consent Decree with the
NAACP that reflects a commitment to strong
educational standards, a merit-based approach
to the evaluation of all candidates and to
achieving more diversity within the ranks of the
State Police. Approved in February 2000, the
Consent Decree was founded on the concept of
ensuring a “level playing field” but did not include any hiring quotas. The agreement did,
however, provide for an expansion of the State
Police entrance eligibility criteria. Under the
agreement with
“Members of the monitoring team were unaniNAACP, all State Pomously impressed with the commitment, focus,
lice candidates must
energy and professionalism with which the
now have a minimum
of 60 college credit
State Police and the Office of State Police Affairs
hours during which
applied themselves and their organizations to
they maintained at
implementation of the changes... Their commitleast a “C” average and
ment to ‘doing the job right’ is exceptional.”
two years or more of
military, law enforce-- Independent Monitors’ Report
ment or satisfactory
[October 6, 2000]
employment experience. The adoption of
“satisfactory employment experience” represents a significant broadcontinue to apply to the State Police in greater
ening of the potential State Police recruitment
numbers than ever before. And more minorities
pool. Under the Consent Decree, a proposed
and women are successfully completing their
requirement that all prospective troopers have a
training and graduating to become troopers.
four-year college degree, which was never actuIn an effort to enhance recruitment efforts
ally applied in recruiting a class, was set aside. It
and create a stronger, more diverse State Police
can be employed in the future if and when
force from top to bottom the agency has:
State Police demonstrates an ability to consistently recruit a diverse pool of qualified appli❖ Significantly increased the size of its
cants who hold four-year degrees. The ConRecruiting Bureau staff, utilizing as many as
sent Decree with the NAACP also called for
24 recruiters at peak times, and created a tolluse of a new State Police applicant test to refree recruiting information phone line at:
place the decade-old Law Enforcement Can1-877-NJSP-877.
didate Record.
❖ Conducted aggressive outreach efforts
❖ Created the New Jersey State Police
from New Jersey to California through which
Scholars Program at Rutgers UniversityState Police recruiting staff has visited high
Newark. The only partnership of its kind in
schools, colleges and universities as well as job
the nation, the program unites a statewide
fairs, military career forums, civic events and
4
Brochure for the New
Jersey State Police Rutgers
Cadet Scholars Program
policing agency with one of the nation’s most
diverse university campuses. The program
will provide paid internships and stipends of
up to $5,000 to undergraduate RutgersNewark students who wish to pursue a career
with the State Police.
In the interest of having in place the most
clearly articulated and even-handed promotions
system possible, the State Police has, among
other initiatives:
❖ Increased diversity within the State Police
leadership ranks, increasing minority representation among captains and, for the first time ever,
promoting two women to the rank of captain.
❖ For the first time in State Police history,
developed and administered a uniform
promotional test based on knowledge of State
Police standard operating procedures.
While there is much more to be done, the
results of these recruiting and promotions
reforms have been encouraging.
The promotions process is being refined
and, through the continued development of a
more objective, merit-based approach, is inspiring greater confidence both from the public
and within State Police ranks.
There is greater diversity within the higher
ranks, and greater diversity is being achieved
throughout the State Police organization, as evidenced by the fact that nearly a quarter of the
successful graduates from the past five State Police recruit training classes have been minorities.
On May 15, 2001, the 122nd State Police
recruit training class, with nearly 50 percent of its
members either minority or female, became the
most diverse graduating class in agency history.
Two weeks later, the 123rd State Police recruit training class, with more than 30 percent
of its members either minority or female, completed its commencement exercises.
Overall, nearly 28 percent of the successful
graduates of the 119th-through-123rd recruit
training classes are minority or female.
The demographic breakdown of those five
recruit training classes is as follows: 120 white
males, 10 African-American males, 24 Hispanic
males, two Asian males, one American Indian
male, seven white females, one African-American female and one Hispanic female.
Agency-wide, minority representation now
stands at nearly 15 percent.
The State Police remains committed to
sound personnel recruiting and promotions
practices. These practices are strengthening the
organization and helping it evolve into one of
the nation’s most diverse law enforcement
agencies, one that accurately reflects the richly
diverse population it protects. ◆
Nearly 28 percent
of the successful
graduates of the
119th-through-123rd
recruit training
classes are minority
or female.
Enhanced Accountability
& Responsiveness
As part of the historic change now taking shape, new measures have been put in place to create
a culture of accountability throughout the State Police – one that both inspires public confidence
and enables the organization to effectively pursue its mission. Through sophisticated information
technology, the creation of new avenues for interaction such as an ombudsman, and the restructuring of existing resources, the State Police is providing a higher level of accountability and responsiveness to the citizens of New Jersey than ever before. At the same time, the State Police is employing new strategies for the supervision of personnel, the swift and thorough resolution of internal
misconduct investigations and the handling of internal Equal Employment Opportunity/
Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) issues. Here are some highlights of this ongoing change:
❖ Office of Professional Standards – A flagship of the State Police internal restructuring effort,
the Office of Professional Standards (OPS) was created in January 2000 and replaces the old
Internal Affairs Bureau. The OPS reports directly to the Superintendent of State Police. New
leadership within the OPS Internal Investigation Unit, along with revised policies and procedures,
have enhanced the caliber of State Police investigations into alleged trooper misconduct. However,
in an effort to bolster public confidence by taking less time to complete such investigations – and,
in the process, more readily identify troopers in need of additional training or discipline – the State
Police has made a substantial commitment of new resources to the OPS. There are now 27 State
Police detectives assigned to OPS for the purpose of receiving, investigating and resolving
misconduct allegations. That represents a near-quadrupling of the number of detectives assigned to
internal misconduct investigations three years ago. In addition, 10 more State Police detectives have
been temporarily assigned to the OPS to help reduce a backlog of internal misconduct cases. In
another initiative designed to speed up the internal investigations process, approximately 150
misconduct cases are being assigned to investigators outside the OPS. The OPS will have oversight
of these investigations, however, and they will be subject to monitoring by the Office of the
Attorney General. As part of its review to ensure compliance with a Consent Decree with the U.S.
Justice Department, a court-appointed Independent Monitoring Team has repeatedly praised the
OPS for the thoroughness and fairness of its internal misconduct investigations. However, the
monitors have also called on State Police to more swiftly resolve such investigations.
❖ Semi-Annual Release of Key Data – Twice each year, the State Police makes public information
– broken down by race and ethnicity – on the number of motor vehicle stops and resulting
5
continued on page 6
Compliment/
Complaint Card
State Police
Progress
Accountability
continued from page 5
enforcement actions taken by personnel
assigned to the five State Police Troops. Also
issued with the same semi-annual report is data
on the number of criminal arrests and patrolrelated arrests made for the categories of drugs,
weapons and driving under the influence. The
same report contains statistics on the number
of trooper misconduct complaints initiated
both by the public and within the State Police.
Technology
/F
acilities
/E
quipment
echnology/F
/Facilities
acilities/E
/Equipment
In an effort to build the best-equipped
and most accountable statewide law enforcement
agency in the nation, the New Jersey State Police
continues to invest millions of dollars in cuttingedge technology and new facilities.
Approximately 60 percent of the Department of Law and Public Safety’s overall
budget resources are spent on the State Police. Much of this money – about $40 million – has been used to acquire sophisticated,
on-board recording equipment for patrol
cars, data collection systems and information
processing technology.
This investment is providing the State
Police with an unprecedented ability to document, analyze, understand and, where necessary, modify the conduct of its personnel.
Through the use of such technology,
State Police supervisors can better identify or
anticipate potentially problematic enforcement activity and more readily detect improper conduct by individual troopers.
Likewise, the new technology enables
State Police supervisors to more readily recog-
❖ Mobile Video Recorders – Every State Police patrol car is now equipped with an electronic video/audio recording system that activates
automatically when a trooper turns on his or
her overhead lights. This technology is a vital
tool in ensuring public accountability and protecting troopers. Through these recording systems, there is an available record of everything
that is said and done by both the trooper and
the driver, as well as any occupants of the car,
during a highway stop and any subsequent enforcement action. In its most recent quarterly
report, the court-appointed Independent Monitoring Team reviewed 441 tapes recorded by
MVR equipment and found “problematic”
conduct by troopers in six instances. These six
cases involved four minority motorists and two
supervision are designed to protect road
non-minority drivers. In each case, the improptroopers and instill greater confidence in the
er conduct involved either excessive questionmotoring public, particularly regarding the
ing or unprofessional questioning. And in each
issue of consent searches. Under new State
case, State Police supervisors had already identiPolice policy, all
fied the improper controopers will be
duct and taken action
required to seek
ranging from the initiaThe monitors noted that New
approval from a
tion of an internal misJersey “has established the state of
supervising
conduct investigation to
the art for ethics and integrity
sergeant – either a
counseling and/or the
training for large law enforcement
“road” supervisor
issuance of a written job
agencies... All sworn ranks are
or a staff sergeant
performance notice.
being trained, with command staff
assigned to one of
The Independent Monand managers receiving experienthe State Police
itoring Team praised
tial and cognitive training from a
stations – before
State Police supervisors
consultant who has ‘set the stanasking permission
for this “effective” redard’ for ethics training in law
to search a
sponse to the six epimotorist’s car.
sodes of improper
enforcement.”
trooper conduct.
❖ Consolidation
-- Independent Monitors’ Report
of State Police
❖ Increased
[January 10, 2001]
EEO/AA Staff –
Supervision – Through
In order to
the redeployment of
enhance its ability
personnel, State Police
to process and investigate complaints, the State
has increased the number of sergeant-level
Police Equal Employment Opportunity/
supervisors who patrol New Jersey’s roadways
Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) staff has been
and, where necessary, assist troopers or advise
relocated from State Police Division
them on the issue of consent searches. In
Headquarters and placed within the
addition, the agency is adding more than 100
Department of Law and Public Safety’s EEO/
“staff sergeant” positions to further enhance its
AA Office at Hughes Justice Complex in
supervisory efforts. These additional layers of
6
nize and reinforce the use of proper policing
procedures, resolve internal misconduct investigations in a more timely fashion and reward praiseworthy trooper conduct.
The State Police has also invested in new
infrastructure and facilities to help the organization do its job more efficiently and provide more accountability.
Here are some highlights of this historic,
technology-based metamorphosis:
❖ Computer-Assisted Dispatch (CAD) –
The CAD system is a sophisticated, statewide
computer network that monitors State Police
patrol resources along with police, emergency
and incident response operations. Via the
CAD system, dispatchers at each of five State
Police regional dispatch centers throughout
New Jersey are able to access a visual display
of all dispatched events, events awaiting
dispatch, the status and location of all State
Police patrol cars handling specific incidents
and the status and location of every patrol on
duty. These displays, coupled with timer
Trenton. The Department of Law and Public
Safety’s EEO/AA investigative and support
staff has expanded during the past year and it
is believed that State Police EEO/AA functions
will benefit from being consolidated “under one
roof” with the remainder of Law and Public
Safety’s EEO/AA staff.
❖ Public feedback in writing, by phone or
the Internet – Citizens who wish to relay a
complaint or compliment about the State Police
now have a variety of options for doing so.
They can call the toll-free State Police
complaint/compliment telephone number at 1877-253-4125. Citizens can also contact the
Office of Professional Standards directly by
calling (609) 882-2000.
Those with access to the Internet can also
deliver feedback by logging on to the New
Jersey State Police Internet Home Page at
www.njsp.org. An easy-to-read complaint/
compliment form is also available at any State
Police station, at State Police Division
Headquarters in West Trenton and at other
public locations. The form is available in both
English or Spanish, as are written instructions
on the procedure for filing a written complaint
or compliment. ◆
functions that monitor how long it has been
since an incident or patrol’s status has been
updated, help in coordinating patrol activity
and ensuring that the availability of
individual units is not overlooked. The CAD
system is also used in collecting and
retrieving data that each trooper is required
to record for every motor vehicle stop and for
related activity.
❖ Motor Vehicle Stop Form – In cases
where a trooper calls for a stopped motorist to
exit his or her car, in cases where drivers are
frisked or searched, or in cases where a consent
to search is requested, troopers are also required
to fill out a detailed Motor Vehicle Stop Form
(MVSR). The form contains information on
whether the driver and any occupants were
asked to get out of their vehicle, whether they
were frisked and whether consent to search was
requested and granted. The form also requires
details on whether a trooper called in a drugdetection canine, whether a non-consensual
search was done, whether the trooper found
and/or seized any contraband, whether the
trooper was required to use force, whether the
driver and/or occupants were arrested and, if so,
on what specific charges. Many troopers are
now equipped with laptop computers, which
they use for a variety of purposes, including the
entry of motor vehicle stop information into
the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system
from their patrol cars. Ultimately, every trooper
will be equipped with a laptop.
❖ Management Awareness Personnel Performance System (MAPPS) – The information
recorded from each traffic stop, as well as any
data recorded after a trooper conducts a search
or other investigative activity, is designed to
feed another important part of the State Police
information network known as the Management Awareness Personnel Performance System
(MAPPS). Targeted to be fully operational by
early 2002, the system has been created to al-
low for maintenance and retrieval of data required to supervise and manage State Police
personnel. Put simply, MAPPS is a method of
addressing trooper performance issues. The system enables State Police supervisors to isolate
and evaluate the patrol and enforcement activities of individual troopers, individual stations,
specific patrol shifts, etc. MAPPS enhances the
ability of supervisors to identify performance issues - both positive and negative. It is also the
final, major element required to put State Police
in full compliance with a Consent Decree negotiated with the U.S. Justice Department.
❖ Technology Center/Troop C Headquarters - The State Police broke ground in Hamilton Township earlier this year for a new Technology Complex. Here, the Forensic Sciences
Bureau will employ state-of-the-art equipment
to conduct DNA testing and other forensic procedures while the Records and Identification Section will employ the latest fingerprint technology. State Police is now able to provide state-ofthe-art identification technology through the
Automated Fingerprint Information System.
This “live scan” system electronically transmits
fingerprints to a central data bank at Division
Headquarters in West Trenton, where the impressions are scanned, searched and verified. The
results are then transmitted back to the originating police agency for immediate identification.
This technology allows law enforcement officers
to obtain a positive identification of criminal suspects in a matter of minutes and to search latent
prints that have been collected as well. Scheduled for future construction in Hamilton is a
new Troop C Headquarters and Communications Center. This facility will be home to the
State Police Computer Aided Dispatch system. It
will also provide space for the Departments of
Transportation and Environmental Protection to
conduct their dispatch operations in order to
better serve the public in emergency situations.
Over the past two years, the State Police has
also invested millions of dollars in new equip-
Future State Police Technology Center at Hamilton
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Documenting
Motor Vehicle Stops
The following information for motor vehicle
stops is collected by State Police’s Computer
Aided Dispatch (CAD) system:
• The name and identification of the trooper
who initiated the stop.
• The names and badge numbers of any other
troopers who actively participated in the stop.
• The license number and state of the
stopped vehicle.
• The gender and race or ethnicity of the
driver and his date of birth, if known.
• The time at which the stop commenced
and when it ended.
• Information on any summons or warning
issued and the category of violation.
In addition, a Motor Vehicle Stop Form (MVSR)
must be filled out when a trooper elects to initiate further investigative or enforcement activity after making a motor vehicle stop. Troopers
must include information on whether:
• The driver and/or occupants were asked to
exit the vehicle.
• The driver and/or occupants were frisked.
• Consent to search was requested and granted.
• A drug-detection canine was deployed and,
if so, the result.
• A non-consensual search was done and
whether any contraband was seized.
• The driver and/or vehicle occupants were subjected to force and, if so, the nature of that force.
• The driver and/or occupants were arrested
and, if so, on what charges.
Information from the MVSR form is entered in the
State Police’s computerized Records Management System. Both CAD and MVSR information
are reported publicly in the division’s twice-yearly
release of aggregate data required under the
Consent Decree with the Department of Justice.
ment including radar detectors, blood-alcohol
level detection units, portable radios, helmets
and other safety and investigative equipment.
In keeping with this effort to update
equipment, State Police patrol cars that have
been used for 100,000 miles or more of road
duty have been taken out of service and a new
policy enacted that requires the replacement of
marked cars every three years.
All patrol cars are also newly equipped
with high-visibility pursuit lights and new radios in addition to secure partitions separating
the trooper from persons being transported in
the rear seating area.
This multi-million-dollar investment in
new-and-improved resources is designed to ensure that, at a time when they are being asked
to rededicate themselves to the highest standards of professionalism, troopers have the
equipment they need to perform their duties as
safely and effectively as possible.
Through its commitment to providing
the best available equipment and training, the
State Police continues to serve as a leader in
the use of technology and as a valuable source
of crime-fighting and technical assistance to
other police agencies. ◆
State Police
Progress
Conclusion
Each day, the State Police strives to improve and protect the quality of life for all
New Jerseyans through work that is often directly in the public eye and, in other cases, unfolds quietly behind the scenes.
The State Police patrols New Jersey’s
heavily traveled state roads and waterways, investigates organized crime, combats illegal
drug and weapons traffic, responds to incidents involving explosives and other potential
hazards and, through the efforts of highly
trained personnel, accomplishes countless other public-safety-related tasks.
As envisioned on its creation in 1921, the
primary mission of the New Jersey State Police
was “to prevent crime and pursue and apprehend offenders.”
Eighty years later, that anti-crime focus –
coupled with around-the-clock patrols designed to ensure the safety of motorists traversing New Jersey’s vast system of toll roads
and state highways – remains the agency’s
life blood.
But modern realities continue to require
expansion of the State Police mission.
Today, other aspects of daily State Police
life include policing the Internet to deter pedophiles, scam artists and other “cyber criminals,” helping to locate missing and exploited
children, working with neighborhood leaders
and young people to reduce crime through
community policing, reducing dangerous
truck traffic, protecting residents, particularly
in urban areas, from youth gang activity while
stressing positive alternatives and discouraging
underage drinking and the use of so-called
“club” drugs by teenagers.
As part of a pilot program involving the
New Jersey Turnpike, the State Police has also
deployed road troopers trained and equipped
to respond to all manner of medical emergencies from heart attacks and diabetes-related
symptoms to epileptic seizures and premature
birthing deliveries.
These activities are all vital to protecting
public safety and upholding the rule of law.
But the State Police mission does not end there.
The State Police is also committed to setting the standard for other law enforcement
agencies throughout New Jersey by ensuring
that its patrol, investigation and enforcement
efforts are always even-handed and do not violate the privacy and other rights of the public.
In addition, the State Police respects its
obligation to reflect, within both the rankand-file membership and throughout its leadership, the diverse society it serves.
To emphasize its commitment to meeting
these obligations – and to provide a reminder
to all of its 3,700 sworn and civilian employees – the State Police has clarified its formal
statement of core values to include a commitment to enforce the law “constitutionally and
with compassion.”
All of the reforms already in place or in
some phase of development are designed to
ensure that, as the State Police works daily to
serve and protect the public, its policies, practices and – most importantly – its people reflect this high standard.
Working with the U.S. Justice Department, the NAACP, the New Jersey Black
Ministers Council, the Anti-Defamation
League, community leaders throughout the
state and others, the State Police has achieved
important progress to date.
A series of evaluation reports by a courtappointed Independent Monitoring Team
have described State Police training reforms as
“state of the art” and praised
the organization
1
for setting a course for substantive reform
rather than a “quick fix.”
The U.S. Justice Department has included some of the same strategies now being employed by State Police within a report on recommended “model” or “best” practices for policing agencies throughout the nation.
And through vigorous, targeted recruiting efforts, more minorities and women are
seeking careers with the State Police – and successfully completing their State Police training
– than ever before.
But despite the encouraging progress to
date, much work remains to be done.
The momentum behind State Police recruiting efforts must be maintained, so that
minorities and women continue to feel welcome and that a large and diverse pool of qualified trooper candidates is available.
State Police internal misconduct investigations, praised by the Independent Monitoring
Team for their fairness and thoroughness,
must be completed in a more timely fashion.
Additional efforts are ongoing to address
evidence that, in some instances, minority motorists continue to be asked for consent to
search more often and questioned more extensively than white motorists.
The process of making the State Police
the best-equipped, finest-trained, most accountable – and above all – most even-handed law enforcement agency in the nation remains a work-in-progress.
However, there is evidence that the work
is yielding significant and historic results.
New Jersey remains committed to building the strongest and most diverse statewide
police agency in the country, one that will ensure equal treatment of all persons under the
law and provide a model for 21st Century law
enforcement. ◆
[the monitors cite a] “trooper who not only met the letter and spirit
of the consent decree and established New Jersey State Police
procedures, but far exceeded these... His traffic stops — including
those in which he engaged in actions of interest to the decree...
were exemplary, and could serve as the source of training videos,
not only for the New Jersey State Police, but for all police agencies
in the United States.”
— Independent Monitors’ Report
[July 17, 2001]
For Mor
e Information
More
New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, 609-984-5828
NJPublic
PublicSafety
Safety.com
www.NJ
NJ
Public
Safety
www.NJSP.org
Department of Law and Public Safety
8