FROM THE PRESIDENT’ S DESK CHIEF JOHN RUSSO, RUTHERFORD PD
The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | March 2025
As a follow-up to some of what I reported last month, the Board of Officers traveled to Washington, D. C. this past month for our annual meeting with our federal partners. As always, our meetings were informative and our federal friends were their usual welcoming selves. Obviously, there was an air of some uncertainty during our conversations due to the administration transition, but one thing that remained certain was their commitment and reliance upon our Task Force Officers. There are some great opportunities for those chiefs who are looking to get an officer set up as a TFO, especially within the FBI and HIS. As they explained to us, TFOs not only help those respective federal agencies, they open doors to those participating local agencies, by way of security clearances, swift responses to your local investigations if necessary, and enhanced collaboration and learned skill set for your personnel.
On the next page is the January 25, 2025 correspondence from Director Abbassi of the Office of Policing Strategy and Innovation under the OAG pertaining to the updated press template I discussed at our last meeting. Also included on the next few pages are the information bulletins supplied by the OAG pertaining to the 2018 Immigrant Trust Directive. We felt it was important to work with the OAG to get these bulletins out to our membership due to increased uncertainty within our communities about New Jersey’ s Law Enforcement’ s role within the Federal Government’ s changing enforcement of immigration laws.
During March, our Executive Director, Mitch Sklar and I were invited guests to be part of two U. S. delegations to attend the Security & Policing 2025 Home Office Event in London. It was great to meet with our partners overseas and we had some very good discussions pertaining to the FIFA World Cup, law enforcement and the use of AI, and even some drone strategies. What was blatantly obvious was how fast technology and artificial intelligence are advancing. This was a tech-driven event, with some software innovations I have yet to see here in the U. S. AI will surely be changing the way we do business in the near future; and I know the NJSACOP will be there to ensure our Chiefs are getting timely and appropriate information to help us all navigate those waters.
Finally, new Peer Support Training will be taking place April 22nd & 23rd. Please consider taking on the role of PSC. It is not a heavy lift; however, it is vitally important to our wellness and you have the opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of our peers. Information pertaining to that training is available through the NJSACOP.
NJSACOP Monthly State Chiefs Briefings April 3, 2025 May 1, 2025 June 5, 2025 September 4, 2025 October 2, 2025 November 6, 2025
4