NJ aims to bolster police diversity

Bills create mentoring program, fix hiring

By: Stacey Barchenger
Trenton Bureau
USA Today Network - New Jersey

.... A tro of measures that aim to make it easier for people of color to join the ranks of law enforcement in the Garden State are now on Governor Phil Murphy's desk.
..... The state Senate gave final approval Wednesday [06/30/2021] to bills that create a mentoring program, curb disparate hiring practices and analyze police departments' diversity for the first time.
..... "New Jersey is the most diverse state in the nation, and we should have a police force that reflects the residents and communities they patrol," senator Ron Rice, D-Essex, said in a statement. "As a former Newark police officer, I understand that diversity in our departments is crucial for building trust between the police and the people."
..... The bills were inspired by recommendations made last year [2020] by the New Jersey chapter of the National Organizations of Black Law Enforcement executives, or NOBLE. They were introduced during the summer of 2020 as citizens across the nation demanded reforms after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
..... A USA TODYA Network New Jersey investigation this year [2021] found that dozens of New Jersey's police department don't look like the communities they serve. What's more, the state doesn't track diversity within its hundreds of police forces.
..... That's set to change if Murphy signs the bill into law.
..... The three bills require the Civil Service Commission, which vets people seeking public employment including in law enforcement, to:
* Analyze the racial composition, salaries and variances within all county and municipal law enforcement departments with a focus on the impact of residency requirements, and make entry-level law enforcement exams more affordable for people in low-income communities (S2765).
* Establish a mentoring program for lower-income communities, with a focus on applicants of color if there has been a history of discrimination (S2766).
* Create a database that includes background information on people seeking to become law enforcement officers, and set standards for when a candidate should be disqualified (S2767).
..... NOBLE has raised concern that investigations into the background of people seeking to become police officers were too subjective and discretionary, potentially allowing nepotism and discrimination.
..... Things like motor vehicle summonses, low credit scores and being fired from other jobs have all been sued to remove applicants from the civil service candidate pool, the organization said.
.... In a letter last year [2020] calling for changes, NOBLE said giving more information to the Civil Service Commission would allow better oversight to make sure candidates are being considered fairly.
.... The bills will "enable us to build and sustain the trust between law enforcement and New Jerseyans," NOBLE New Jersey President Jiles Ship said.
.... The information on applicants; backgrounds that is collected by the commission would not include personal identifying information, and also would not be subject to state public records laws, according to the bill.
..... Ship said that exemption was not requested by NOBLE.
..... "Part of the reason why we had to do this was to get more transparency," he said. "It goes against transparency."
..... A spokesman for Senator Joseph Cryan, a Union County Democrat who sponsored the bills, said the senator would consider making the database public after it is complete. Cryan is the former Union County sheriff.
.... "The purpose of the database is to ensure that the commission has the information it needs to do its work," Senate Democrats spokesman Richard McGrath said in an email.

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