NJ weighs action after questionable cop training

Some who attended may see past cases reopened

By: Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... After a report issued by the Office of the State Comptroller earlier this month [12/2023] harshly criticized education provided to New Jersey police by Street Cop Training, law enforcement agencies throughout the state may need to reevaluate cases based on the report's implications - and which officers took part in the training.
..... The report, released at the beginning of December, [2023] alleges that Street Cop Training, an East Windsor-based police consultancy, offered training that advocates for unconstitutional policing tactics, glorified violence and denigrated women and minorities at a conference held in Atlantic City in2021.
..... The training likely violated myriad state laws and policies, acting New Jersey comptroller Kevin Walsh said this month. [12/2023]
..... This week, [12/18/2023] a spokesperson for New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said he first heard about the concerns of the comptroller in late March 2023 and "immediately ordered state police attendance at Street Cop Training to cease."
..... In a statement, the Attorney General's Office went on to say it is in "active communications with the county prosecutors to provide guidance and to direct further action in response to the findings set forth in the report" and that Platkin has also "directed the Division of Civil rights to review the report for any potential civil rights violations."

Effect on Bergen prosecutor

..... Liz Rebein, a spokesperson for the Bergen County's Prosecutor's office, said its officials have "reviewed the report and are looking into what steps need to be taken next" and are in communications with the Attorney General's Office and the other county prosecutors' office.
..... "We take the allegations in the report very seriously and are conducting an investigation into the matter," she said.
..... One case involving an officer named in the report has already been dropped, though Rebein said she couldn't speak to the state's reasons for dismissing the case.
..... Brad Gilmore, a former Ridgefield Park police officer and current Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Narcotic Task Force detective, was the arresting officer in the case.
..... The Prosecutor's Office announced during jury selection hat it was dropping the drug charges in one case, just a day after the report was released.
..... The defendant was arrested after he was pulled over on Rout 95 in Ridgefield Park and 2 kilos of heroin was found in a hidden compartment within the car.
..... He was charged with possession of heroin and procession with intent to distribute, which carries a penalty of 10 to 20 years.

How did reform advocates react?

..... Yabbick Wood, director of the Criminal Justice Reform Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, said there will likely be additional dismissals, "because any defense attorney worth their salt is going to look at their cases, especially if it's any trainer who took part in this, and they're going to see what that person had in seizing drugs or in the chain of custody of drugs or car stops, and they're going to challenge all these cases."
..... "The reason for that is because it gets to the credibility of the officer or officers saying the person was arrested or person was stopped did something, but then that same officer is saying all sorts of discriminatory rhetoric and biased things, and it makes it less credible that the officer actually observe that," Wood said.
..... "Also, these cases need to be prepared for trial. so it's not even just how a prosecutor see the case. It's how a jury would see the case."
..... Wood went on to say that while all New jersey officers should be retrained to to "attempt to undo the toxic rhetoric that was spewing in this training," the cases themselves should be individually reevaluated.

Street Cop Training response

..... But Street Cop Training is not shying away from the report. Instead, in a statement video posted on social media, Dennis Benigno said his company does "important work" and that there is "no place for demeaning, harassing or hateful words or jokes in our training."
..... "Since that time, we have worked as company to create quality control measures to foster a cooperative environment among our trainers and professional staff," he said in the video. "We don't want that type of incident to ever happen again."
..... Benigno added that like many other companies, his conducts diversity, equity and inclusion and sensitivity training, and he is "confident" that the "remedial measure have been successful."
..... when asked specifically about how instructors are chosen, why 14 of the 39 listed on the site have policing ties to New Jersey, what the DEI and sensitivity training gives to instructors entails, the quality control measure that have been implemented and the remedial measures taken, the firm said in a prepared statement that Street Cop Training will "let Dennis' video speak for itself and cannot go beyond what he stated."
..... The company also reiterated that Benigno is "not aware of any complaints regarding the content of any conferences or trainings and has only received praises and thanks from participants."

What did the report say?

..... More than 240 police officers from New Jersey attended the training conference that the Comptroller's Office found had a lack of oversight that allowed for deficiencies in the training.
..... The report alleges that more than 100 discriminatory and harassing comments were made, with speakers discussing the size of their genitals, displaying lewd images and making demeaning quips about women and minorities.
..... The report also alleges that instructors, including some active New Jersey police officers, Advocated stopping motorists for no reason or illegally prolonging stops, which could violate people's civil rights and be unconstitutional under both federal and new Jersey laws.
..... It says some instructors promoted a "warrior" approach to policing and dehumanized civilians, referring to them as "the pieces of (expletive) of society" or using offensive memes.
..... The report says one speaker spoke about "loving violence" and praised savagery - "drinking out of the skulls of our enemies."
..... Another use an offensive meme of a monkey after describing a motor vehicle stop of a "75-year-old Black man coming out of Trenton."
..... It also alleges that Benigno, a former New Jersey police officer, talked about wanting to die in Colombia, surrounded by cocaine and "girls" who are "not as wealthy and need to do things to make money."

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