De-escalation: New Jersey Training Requirements
Training
Citation
Summary & Notes
Relevant Excerpt
Current version of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 52:17B-77.13(a)(2) (2021)
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First enacted Aug. 9, 2016
Amended Aug. 27, 2020
Effective date Mar. 1, 2021
Unlike the previous version of this statute, the Department of Law and Public Safety is required to develop both cultural diversity and implicit bias training course materials for officers on conflict resolution techniques, and to make them available to police departments. This is in relation to people of various cultures and religions.
a. The Department of Law and Public Safety shall develop or identify uniform cultural diversity and implicit bias training course materials and an online tutorial that shall include instruction designed to promote positive interaction with, and community outreach to, all residents within a community, including residents of all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals residing within the community. Components of the training course materials and online tutorial shall include, but not be limited to, instruction on: . . . 2) appropriate methods by which an officer may interact with people of various cultures and religions in the community, with an emphasis on officer safety skills and conflict resolution techniques . . . .
Current version of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 52:17B-77.13(b) (2021)
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First enacted Aug. 9, 2016
Amended Aug. 27, 2020
Effective date Mar. 1, 2021
No change in language from the current law. Because of the change in (a)(2), this law requires the Department of Law and Public Safety to provide both cultural diversity and implicit bias training materials to police departments.
b. The Department of Law and Public Safety shall cause the training course materials and online tutorial developed or identified pursuant to subsection a. of this section to be made available to every State, county, and municipal law enforcement department in the State and to each campus police department at an institution of higher education in the State that appoints police officers pursuant to P.L.1970, c. 211 (C.18A:6-4.2 et seq.) for use in providing officer training and information promoting community outreach efforts within the law enforcement department's community.
Current version N.J. Stat. Ann. § 52:17B-77.14 (2021)
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First enacted Aug. 9, 2016
Amended Aug. 27, 2020
Effective date Mar. 1, 2021
The current version of this law does not require that police departments provide training with the materials from section 52:17B-77.13 (a)(2), (b), nor that it occur once every five years, and uses the language "may." The future version of the statute uses the language "shall" and requires the police departments to provide the aforementioned training once every five years.
Every State, county, and municipal law enforcement department in the State and every campus police department at an institution of higher education in the State that appoints police officers pursuant to P.L.1970, c. 211 (C.18A:6-4.2 et seq.) shall provide once every five years in-service training of its personnel utilizing the training course materials or online tutorial developed or identified by the Department of Law and Public Safety pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2016, c. 23 (C.52:17B-77.13).