Bill Text: NJ A5095 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires Attorney General to establish youth community policing program policy for State and local law enforcement agencies.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-12-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A5095 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A5095-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman AURA K. DUNN
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires Attorney General to establish youth community policing program policy for State and local law enforcement agencies.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a youth community policing program and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Attorney General shall develop a model policy establishing a youth community policing program for law enforcement agencies in order to strengthen community relations and create more opportunities for positive interactions between the law enforcement community and children in this State.
b. At a minimum, the policy shall provide:
(1) a description of the types of activities that would constitute youth community policing activities;
(2) a requirement that participation in youth community policing activities be mandatory for law enforcement officers employed by a law enforcement agency, with an annual minimum number of volunteer hours to be established by the Attorney General;
(3) that the time spent participating in mandatory youth community policing activities shall be accredited to continuing education credits, in a manner to be determined by the Attorney General; and
(4) that law enforcement officers shall receive paid time off, separate from any other accrued leave time, in order to satisfy the mandatory minimum number of volunteer hours.
c. Each law enforcement agency in the State shall adopt the policy established by the Attorney General pursuant to subsection a. of this section or a policy that is substantially identical. An entity adopting its own policy shall make application in a manner to be determined by the Attorney General for approval of the policy prior to adoption.
d. To effectuate the implementation of a youth community policing program, each law enforcement agency in the State shall be permitted to use agency resources to create a paid volunteer coordinator position to increase and oversee youth engagement activities in the surrounding community.
e. As used in this section:
(1) "law enforcement agency" means a State, county, and municipal law enforcement department in the State, and a 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.); and
(2) "law enforcement
officer" means a person employed by a law enforcement agency whose public
duties include the power to act as an officer for the detection, apprehension,
arrest, and conviction of offenders against the laws of this State.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month following the date of enactment, except that the Attorney General may take any anticipatory action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Attorney General to develop a model policy establishing a youth community policing program for law enforcement agencies in order to strengthen community relations and create more opportunities for positive interactions between the law enforcement community and children in this State.
The bill provides that at a minimum, the policy would be required to include:
(1) a description of the types of activities that would constitute youth community policing activities;
(2) that participation in youth community policing activities would be mandatory for law enforcement officers employed by a law enforcement agency, with an annual minimum number of volunteer hours to be established by the Attorney General;
(3) that the time spent participating in mandatory youth community policing activities would be accredited to continuing education credits, in a manner to be determined by the Attorney General; and
(4) that law enforcement officers would receive paid time off, separate from any other accrued leave time, in order to satisfy the mandatory minimum number of volunteer hours.
Under the bill, each law enforcement agency in the State would be required to adopt the policy established by the Attorney General or a policy that is substantially identical. An entity adopting its own policy would be required to make application in a manner to be determined by the Attorney General for approval of the policy prior to adoption.
The bill additionally provides that to effectuate the implementation of a youth community policing program, each law enforcement agency in the State would be permitted to use agency resources to create a paid volunteer coordinator position to increase and oversee youth engagement activities in the surrounding community.
