LEGISLATIVE REPORT
What’s on the
STATE PBA LEGISLATIVE WATCH LIST…
Even though the start of fall this year signals a major national election looming, there remains
a lot of work to do in New Jersey as the State Legislature looks ahead at the session during the
next few months. While pension and benefit issues remain a focal point, there remain a number
of issues of great importance that the NJ State PBA will be pursuing in the near future. While not
ROB NIXON
a complete list, the following is a sample of the nearly 400 bills the State PBA is proposing,
opposing or reviewing in Trenton currently (with the legislator sponsoring the bill noted):
Senate Bill 879 (Greenstein)
Senate Bill 2649 (Sweeney)
A PBA initiative, the bill prohibits the termination of a law enforcement officer based upon a determination that officer is physically
unable to perform duty under certain circumstances. The legislation
ensures that all officers injured in the performance of their duties will
not be punished by their employers for having been injured.
The bill requires that the Attorney General take over the investigation
and prosecution of crime involving a person's death by law enforcement officer while acting in the officer's official capacity or while in
custody. The bill strips the power of county prosecutors to investigate
these incidents. The State PBA strongly opposed the legislation when
it was considered by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee as unnecessary under current law, an attack on the integrity of law
enforcement and prosecutors and a risk to the collection of evidence
and interviewing of witnesses after a shooting.
Status: The legislation passed the Senate 37-0 and we are awaiting
action in the Assembly.
Senate Bill 1105 (Bucco)/Assembly Bill 2126
(O’Scanlon)
The bill prohibits law enforcement agencies from considering number of arrests made and citations issued when evaluating law enforcement officer's professional performance. The PBA proposal would
officially put an end to the use of quotas to discipline law
enforcement officers, formally and informally.
Status: Senate Bill 1105 is on second reading in the Senate;
Assembly Bill 2126 awaits action by the Assembly Law and Public
Safety Committee.
Assembly Bill 3256 (Lagana/Benson)
The legislation requires the Police Training Commission to develop
an accelerated training course for certain county corrections officers
who are to be transferred to a Sheriff’s officer position. A pilot
program already established verified that this “gap” training saves
time and money by ensuring that a fully trained corrections officer
doesn’t need to redo the entire police academy to obtain the additional hours of training to become a sheriff’s officer.
Status: The Senate version, Senate Bill 790 (Sarlo), is currently on
second reading and A-3256 is awaiting movement by the Assembly