The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | May 2022
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It was not just technological advances that had the attention of the NJSACOP . So , too , did the establishment of compulsory statewide training for new police officers . Eventually that goal was realized . But the Chiefs did not just sit back and wait for it to happen . While pressing for the passage of such a law , for decades the Association took it upon itself to bring professional police education into New Jersey . The Chiefs ’ focus on excellence did not go unnoticed .
A newspaper editorial from 1965 got it just right :
“ Professional police work ” is more than a cliché or fancy slogan to back up higher salary demands . A look at the threeday program for the 53 rd annual conference of the State Association of Chiefs of Police backs this up …. Yes , the areas in which a modern policeman must be expert or knowledgeable are varied and many , dealing with factual information and elusive human relationships , law and ethics , as well as with criminals and other lawbreakers . We can no longer hand a rookie a gun , a badge and a night stick and expect him to cope effectively with modern social problems . We must encourage professional standards of police work , selecting the most capable men and women – and paying them accordingly .
This desire to professionalize policing in the state grew into today ’ s NJSACOP training and professional development portfolio of programs for police executives that is second to none anywhere .
In 1990 the NJSACOP recognized the great benefits to law enforcement that would come from the adoption of best practices , or “ standards .” The Association ’ s Executive Board passed a resolution that year supporting the adoption of voluntary standards for police agencies and sought out the appropriate state entities to help make this a reality . The process moved in fits and starts , eventually petering out . Not content to wait any longer , in 2002 the NJSACOP moved forward to create our own voluntary state accreditation program , which is now one of the largest and most successful law enforcement accreditation programs in the country .
As the calendar turned to a new millennium , NJSACOP introduced technological tools to help chiefs share information , policies , knowledge and communicate in a way unimaginable just a few years before .
Throughout the past 10 decades , the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police , and the members who make it what it is ( and always has been ), have led the way for law enforcement in our state , through good times and bad . For a century , NJSACOP has helped make New Jersey a better place to live , work , and visit through the relentless pursuit of excellence in police leadership . If anything , that pursuit will become sharper and more focused as we confront today ’ s exceptionally difficult economic and political realities .
This book is an effort to memorialize and honor the history of this great organization , and to recall the memory of all of those individuals who have made it what it is today . Not every story could be told ; not every name and face could be recollected . But we think it will give the reader a vivid look into the colorful and sometimes stormy history of New Jersey ’ s Chiefs of Police and their state association .
The NJSACOP ’ s international reputation has been one hundred years in the making . We work every day to live up to it , and to see that it carries into our next century .
2022 State Police Chiefs Briefings Dates & Locations
All Briefings are held on the first Thursday of the month at 10:00 am ( breakfast served at 9:00 am ) at the Doubletree Hotel in Tinton Falls , NJ ( unless otherwise noted ). Briefings are NOT held in July and August .
June 2 , 2022 September 1 , 2022 October 6 , 2022 November 3 , 2022 December 1 , 2022 - The Ocean Place Resort , Long Branch , NJ
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