FROM THE PRESIDENT’ S DESK CHIEF JOHN RUSSO, RUTHERFORD PD
The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | April 2025
The April NJSACOP monthly meeting was once again very well attended. I am always happy to see that because these meetings are a wealth of information that can help chiefs with the day-to-day operations of their agencies. In addition, there are no better networking events to grab another chief’ s ear to ask a question, request advice, or just vent about some of the unique situations we are faced with as police chiefs. With only two meetings left before our summer hiatus and the end of my tenure as President, I need to thank those chiefs who participate in our committees, and spend time putting together those informative( and sometimes entertaining) reports for all of us to hear. The ability to sit and listen to these updates is not something other chiefs associations have the ability to do on a monthly basis, and the benefits are seen with the work product we routinely produce. New Jersey police chiefs are the leaders of our profession.
During April’ s monthly meeting, we had the opportunity to hear from our new interim United States Attorney, Alia Habba. That was the first time I can recall in the recent past that we heard from our U. S. Attorney at our monthly meeting. I feel this was a telling moment for the association because it shows the importance, of, and need for buy-in from our membership for the decision makers in the State. At that meeting and since, U. S. Attorney Habba has repeatedly reported the importance of consistency and collaboration with our federal and state / local agencies when dealing with immigration warrants, which are now displayed in NCIC. There are obvious issues that the federal administration has with the state’ s Immigrant Trust Directive which limits our officers’ ability to work with our federal partners in certain circumstances. I believe the consensus among our membership is that the ITD needs some amendments to better ensure officer safety; however, the legal wrangling between the federal and state administrations needs to be dealt with at the executive level and not use our officers as pawns in that fight. We will monitor developments with this issue and keep you abreast of any potential changes to our procedures. As always, our agencies will be prepared to do what is expected of us in the most professional and effective way.
Several members of the elected board met with members of our County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey. The goal of this meeting was to discuss our legislative concerns and policy needs and potentially form a unified approach when dealing with our legislators or the OAG. I believe these regular meetings will prove beneficial for both of our associations.
Finally, at our May meeting we will finally get to hear from our two Fourth Vice President candidates. I am looking forward to hearing from both chiefs and the subsequent June election.
NJSACOP Monthly State Chiefs Briefings May 1, 2025 June 5, 2025 September 4, 2025 October 2, 2025 November 6, 2025
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