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Case Law & Resources: New Jersey

No relevant case law was found by our researchers.

Case Law

Resources

Citation

Summary and Notes

Proposed bill in the Senate on June 29, 2020 and referred to the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee. The purpose is to introduce additional training requirements for de-escalation. See the legiscan and open states link for tracking bill progress and more information.

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More information about when the bill was introduced, in what sessions, etc. here. 

Link to track bill progress.

Relevant Excerpt

1. (New section) a. The Department of Law and Public Safety shall develop or identify uniform law enforcement de-escalation and intervention training course materials. These materials shall be made available in the form of an online tutorial. The course materials also shall include instruction on how to use communication techniques to defuse potentially dangerous situations and provide law enforcement officers with strategies to calmly deal with people who are experiencing mental and emotional crises. b. Every law enforcement officer shall receive four hours of in-service training on de-escalation and intervention required by this section every three years. c. For the purposes of this section, “de-escalation” means the strategic slowing down of an incident in a manner that allows officers more time, distance, space, and tactical flexibility during dynamic situations on the street.

Continued from above. The proposed bill also holds officers liable who do not attempt to de-escalate and intervene in a confrontation between another officer and a citizen.

2. N.J.S.2C:2-6 is amended to read as follows: . . . g. For the purposes of this section, a law enforcement officer is deemed to have the duty to prevent the commission of an offense by another law enforcement officer by deescalating and intervening in a confrontation between the other law enforcement officer and a person. A law enforcement officer who fails to make the proper effort to de-escalate and intervene in the commission of an offense by another law enforcement officer against the person is an accomplice to that offense pursuant to subsection c. of this section.

AG's Excellence in Policing Initiative. The AG outlines a process for revising NJ's use of force policy and requests public comment on "exhausting all other reasonable means (e.g., verbal warnings) and pursuing de-escalation before resorting to deadly force.”

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De-escalation policy of the Camden, NJ police force that was created with input from NYU Law and the ACLU. Goes beyond the New Jersey Attorney General and the U.S. Supreme Court's standard.

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Article that further explains the policy here.

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Article about required de-escalation training for police officers in Jersey City.

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