Wednesday, December 5, 2018 at 6:12:17 PM Eastern Standard Time

Subject:
Joint Statement of New Jersey Law Enforcement Leaders
Date:
Wednesday, December 5, 2018 at 6:09:03 PM Eastern Standard Time
From:
OAGPress
To:
OAGPress
A1achments: image003.png

Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General
For Immediate Release:
December 5, 2018

For Further Information Contact:
Sharon Lauchaire (609) 292-4791

Joint Statement of New Jersey Law Enforcement Leaders
Issued by AIorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, the Department of Law & Public Safety, New Jersey
State Police, County Prosecutors AssociaQon of New Jersey, New Jersey State Policemen’s
Benevolent AssociaQon, New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police, State Troopers Superior Officers
AssociaQon, State Troopers Non- Commissioned Officers AssociaQon, and State Troopers Fraternal
AssociaQon.
Every day, New Jersey’s 36,000 law enforcement officers put their lives on the line to ensure the safety
and wellbeing of our fellow residents. They do extraordinary work—oEen under challenging
circumstances and oEen without the recogniFon they deserve.
Our police officers interact with the public millions of Fmes each year, with interacFons ranging from
rouFne traffic stops to acFve shooters. In the overwhelming majority of cases, these officers handle
the maJer professionally and the interacFon ends without incident.
From Fme to Fme, officers are confronted with situaFons where they have liJle choice but to use
force against an individual who is not complying with a lawful order or who poses an immediate threat
to themselves or others. OEenFmes, this use of force is a necessary and appropriate response to a
dangerous situaFon.
Unfortunately, there may be a rare occasion where an officer uses violent force against a civilian
without jusFficaFon. We condemn such acFons, not simply because such acFons are wrong, but also
because they do a disservice to the vast majority of law enforcement officers commiJed to upholding
the highest standards of the profession.
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 For years, the State of New Jersey has required that law enforcement agencies collect and report data
about the use of force by their officers. We recognize that use-of-force data – when properly collected
– serves many useful purposes, from idenFfying policing trends to building public confidence in law
enforcement.
But numbers rarely tell the full story, and data can be easily misused to advance false narraFves that
malign our profession. The risks are especially great when the data is collected, reported, or analyzed
without uniform standards. Therefore, it is crucial not simply that we obtain accurate data, but also
that we provide the context necessary to understand and explain this informaFon to the public.
Last week, the Star-Ledger began publishing a series of arFcles about the gaps in the uniformity of our
state’s use-of-force data collecFon efforts, as well as the newspaper’s effort to build a use-of-force
database of its own. The arFcles make one thing clear: although individual municipaliFes,
departments, or counFes may have effecFve systems in place, our statewide data collecFon system
requires a complete overhaul.
But it is for this very reason that we also cauFon reporters and members of the public about relying on
data in the Star-Ledger’s database: because our state lacks uniform data collecFon methods, the
records obtained by the Star-Ledger may be inaccurate in some cases and may cause those relying on
the data to draw incorrect conclusions about the state of law enforcement in New Jersey.
We are commiJed to fixing this problem. It falls to those of us in law enforcement to improve our data
collecFon efforts and ensure that any data we provide the public is both accurate and properly
contextualized.
Today, we are announcing a joint effort to address the issue. Under the leadership of the Office of the
AJorney General, we will be working together to design a new system for obtaining use-of-force data
in New Jersey. We intend to:
(1) Standardize the process that state, county, and local law enforcement agencies use to record
use-of-force incidents and report them to the State, including through the use of standardized
electronic forms;
(2) IdenFfy ways to contextualize use-of-force incidents with accurate informaFon about the
officers’ acFons; and
(3) IdenFfy one or more academic insFtuFons to partner with the State of New Jersey to help
analyze use-of-force data and ensure the rigor of the state’s data collecFon efforts.
We intend to work quickly to develop new tools, with the goal of compleFng our work someFme in
the new year. We cannot do our jobs without the confidence of the people we serve, and we are
commiJed to ensuring that the public understands when and under what circumstances New Jersey’s
law enforcement officers use force during the course of their public duFes.
Issued on behalf of:
Department of Law & Public Safety
Gurbir S. Grewal, A4orney General
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 Veronica Allende, Director, Division of Criminal JusAce
Thomas Eicher, Director, Office of Public Integrity & Accountability
ChrisAna Glogoff, Director, Office of Law Enforcement Professional Standards
New Jersey State Police
Col. Patrick J. Callahan, AcAng Superintendent
County Prosecutors AssociaQon of New Jersey
Francis A. Koch, President
New Jersey State AssociaQon of Chiefs of Police
Chief Richard Buzby, President
New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent AssociaQon
Patrick Colligan, President
New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police
Robert W. Fox, President
State Troopers Superior Officers AssociaQon
Rich Roberts, President
State Troopers Non-Commissioned Officers AssociaQon
Pete J SAlianessis, President
State Troopers Fraternal AssociaQon
Steven Kuhn, First Vice President
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CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The informaPon contained in this communicaPon from the Office of the New Jersey
ASorney General is privileged and confidenPal and is intended for the sole use of the persons or enPPes who are the
addressees. If you are not an intended recipient of this e-mail, the disseminaPon, distribuPon, copying or use of the
informaPon it contains is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communicaPon in error, please immediately
contact the Office of the ASorney General at (609) 292-4925 to arrange for the return of this informaPon.

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