The NJ Police Chief Magazine - Vol. 27, Number 1 | Page 5

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
CHIEF LOUIS BORDI
VOORHEES PD
The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | July/August 2020
New Jersey Police Officers Have Continued to Improve for Decades….
In the face of the most recent national/international anti-police movement, provoked by the incident in
Minneapolis MN, New Jersey policing has continued its path of “continued improvement,” which has been our
hallmark over the last several decades. This is strongly supported by our long-standing Attorney General
Guidelines, Directives and policies that have provided a bedrock foundation that still resonates with the
demands of today’s policing initiatives. Even though New Jersey policing stands proudly on this longstanding
foundation, we continue to be vigilant in our pursuit of continued improvement and lead the way in areas such
as police accountability, use of force, officer wellness, and community relations.
This notion was reinforced by a tweet from our Attorney General on May 29, 2020, which stated:
As our nation grapples with the tragic death of George Floyd’s death, it is a good time to review some of the steps we have
taken to strengthen trust between law enforcement and the broader NJ community.
1. Independent grand Jury Investigations for an in-custody death
2. We overhauled the disciplinary process-IA
3. Listening session in all 21 counties for 21 st Century Community Policing
4. Required every PD to implement an Early Warning System
5. Revamping LE Training to ensure best practices on De-Escalation
6. Imposed new statewide rules governing interaction with historically marginalized communities, immigrants, and
LGBTQ+ individuals
7. We re-wrote the bias incidents policy to help ensure LE agencies conduct and complete investigations
8. Established the “First in the Nation Statewide Officer Resiliency Program” for officers to deal with the stress of
modern policing
9. Building a public database to track police use of force incidents
10. Created a statewide conviction review unit and a statewide cold case network
11. Pushed to abolish mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent drug crimes
We are proud of these policies, but we are even prouder about how we did them; by bringing everyone to the table. Each
reform was made in consultation with community leaders, police unions, civil rights groups, and victim advocates.
While we continue to improve, there are many that call for “police reform.” I firmly reject the notion that New Jersey policing is involved
in or needs police reform. Webster’s Dictionary defines “reform” in different ways.
Transitive Verb: to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuse, to put an end to an evil by
enforcing or introducing a better method or course of action, to abandon evil ways.
Noun: to amend w hat is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved: removal or correction of errors or of an abuse or a
wrong.
I think a small sample of the public believes the negative narrative when they hear police “reform” from the national media and
representatives in high level positions with a significant public platform. The term is not accurate for New Jersey policing and should not
be used to describe us. As I mentioned earlier, we have been practicing continued improvement for decades, and that to me is a much
more accurate depiction of New Jersey policing. I also believe there is a large silent majority that truly does support law enforcement.
NJSACOP has recognized the need to expand the messaging about the progressive and positive activities we have been engaged in; not
just when there is an incident. We are currently tweeting positive police information every Tuesday and Thursday from the NJSACOP
twitter account to keep the public informed. Please have your public information officer share these tweets to increase our notification
capacity. If you have a suggestion for a tweet, please contact the state office. We are also actively pursuing a public relations firm to
help shape our messaging and distribution. We must do a better job of getting information to the large silent majority. My hope is that
these actions will help all of us.
Please do not take my position of celebration for our long history of professional policing accomplishments and continued improvement as
a stance against updating our statewide policing policies and procedures. Our hyper vigilance to improve is exactly why I consider New
Jersey policing to be amongst the best in the country.
I will conclude with this: please continue to set the bar high, get involved, and mentor the officers behind you.
Professionally,
Chief Louis Bordi
NJSACOP President
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