Marc Kovar
Executive Vice-President
Here’s the problem with
bail reform in New Jersey
For the past 50 or so years, we could make an arrest and be
confident that bail would be set fairly and to reduce, if not
eliminate, the flight risk. Judges considered the nature and cir-
cumstances of the offense, the defendant’s prior criminal his-
tory, the defendant’s contacts in the state, and the likelihood
of a conviction when setting bail. And the system worked.
Bail reform, however, has come to New Jersey, and I can’t
see how the new system will work. It is full of problems, and I
believe it will ultimately fail.
New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner and
Judge Glenn Grant, the administrative director of the New
Jersey Courts, have been gaveling for this reform. Only they
can explain what motivated them, but, like many of the state,
county and municipal political changes in the state the past
seven-plus years, I suspect it had something to do with trying
to save money.
As a result of this new bail-setting system, 20 new superi-
or court judges were appointed. Considering the cost to the
taxpayers for the 20 additional judges and their staffs, as well
as the cost of the additional employees added to the judiciary
budget to monitor the released defendants, it is hard to ac-
cept that the new plan will save money.
Now, I know you will find this hard to believe, but it seems
like the public, who ultimately voted to change the law re-
garding bail, was misled into believing that this system was
great. The judges made their case based on two questionable
statements:
Large numbers of poor people were being held in jail sim-
ply because they were poor and could not afford bail.
No bail would be permitted to keep real violent defendants
accused of crimes like murder held in jail pending trial
Under the prior system, violent defendants accused of
murder were assigned seven-figure bail amounts which they
clearly could not afford. So they were effectively denied bail.
And very few, if any, non-violent defendants accused of insig-
nificant offenses were held on bail. The overwhelming major-
ity were granted ROR bail.
Several problems have already developed with the new sys-
tem that are very bad for law enforcement officers, and for
the public. The program applies statewide, which means our
sisters and brothers now face greater risks and the public will
suffer because there will be more unnecessary victims under
this new system.
Also, we will never know how many crimes will be commit-
ted by defendants who should be in jail, but instead are out on
the streets. This is why I say there will be many more unneces-
sary victims. Until they are caught, some of these defendants
will commit crimes while out on bail.
We have already seen several news accounts of these prob-
lems. The most notable occurred in Little Egg Harbor where a
man who was released on a sexual-based crime, which clearly
endangered the community. The entire Little Egg Harbor po-
lice department, at the direction of Chief Rich Buzby, warned
residents of the release of the defendant and the dangers im-
posed.
The NJ State PBA commends the chief and his department
for a job well done, but this is not the type of policing our
members want to be doing. As it is, we don’t have enough re-
sources to prevent crime the way we want to, so how can time
and resources spent keeping watch on a criminal who should
not have been released save any money? And how can it be
safe?
I hope I’m wrong on my assessment of bail reform. But we
all must keep an eye on this situation and express our con-
cerns to prosecutors, judges, legislators, and members of the
public at large as to this developing situation.
As always, I remind you to be safe. d
Meet the new
State Delegates
The following State Delegates were sworn in on March 9
at the NJ State PBA Mini Convention in Atlantic City:
• Kevin Kukan, Rockaway Boro Local 268
• Kieran McMorrow, Sussex County Local 138
• Giuseppe Oliva, Glen Ridge Local 58
• Brett Keepers, West Essex Local 81
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ MARCH 2017 7