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Gov. Jon Corzine Thursday signed legislation that makes law the reforms implemented by the State Police to end racial profiling and ensures continued state oversight and monitoring of the troopers.
The bill, the Law Enforcement Professional Standards Act of 2009, establishes an office within the state Attorney General's Office to assume oversight of the State Police.
"The state has made great strides, from the trooper on patrol to the Attorney General's office, to restore trust in the fairness of law enforcement," Corzine said as a signing ceremony in Newark. "While continued vigilance is always in order for any governmental institution, the practices required by this bill should ensure that state law enforcement is guided by accountability and transparency."
The bill signing is a step towards the end of a decade-long consent decree entered into by the state and the U.S. Department of Justice to remedy racial profiling by troopers. Both the Attorney General's office and the State Police have operated under the supervision of the U.S. District of New Jersey and an independent monitoring team, which periodically evaluated the State Police's compliance with the decree.Following the bill signing, a joint motion was filed in U.S. District Court by the Attorney General's office and the U.S. Department of Justice asking that the consent decree be dissolved.
"With today's bill signing, we will join with the U.S. Justice Department to dissolve the consent decree related to the State Police and racial profiling," said Attorney General Anne Milgram. "The bill codifies the significant reforms that have been achieved by the State Police in the last ten years regarding training, supervision, and monitoring of road troopers and provide s the important framework to ensure that those reforms are permanent. The State Police has worked hard to change its culture, and the division has been judged by federal monitors to be a model for law enforcement departments throughout the country."
In June 2006, the federal monitors reported that the State Police had been in substantial compliance with the consent decree for two consecutive years.
In August 2006, Corzine signed an executive order, which established the "Governor's Advisory Committee on Police Standards." The committee conducted an examination of the policies and practices of the State Police and its compliance with the terms of the consent decree and the Attorney General's office's oversight and direction. The committee concluded that the State Police had worked cooperatively to rebuild public trust and restore honor through significant revisions of operating procedures. Subsequent monitors' reports also20found the State Police remained in compliance with the decree.
"The citizens of New Jersey are entitled to be protected and served by law enforcement professionals who conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of integrity, proficiency and accountability, and though progress toward making racial profiling a thing of the past has been made, we must remain vigilant in our pursuit," said Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), the primary sponsor of the bill. "This bill both acknowledges the progress, but also provides the oversight needed to instill confidence that that progress will not be reversed."
Over the past decade, the State Police and staff within the Attorney General's office have brought about changes that include a revision of the State Police's operating procedures and reorganizing the relationship between the Attorney General's office and troopers.
"Although that progress has been neither uniform nor perfect, all parties have earned our respect for tackling the task presented to them. All participants in the system must maintain continued vigilance, but the State Police must also have our encouragement for the path ahead," Corzine said. "The men and women who enforce our laws ensure safety on our highways and streets and protect against those who would prey on the weakest among us. They are the most evident and ever-present face of government. When true to their calling, they represent the best in all of us."
"Through the creation of this new office, this law will enable us to keep a closer eye on the progress that is being made to curb racial profiling here in New Jersey," said Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), a former Newark detective. "There is still some work left to be done, but we are moving closer to ensuring that all motorists are treated fairly and with dignity when using our roadways."
– TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
