Bill Text: NJ A5541 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires civil service examination for police and correctional police officers to include questions to identify implicit racial bias.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-05 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Community Development and Affairs Committee [A5541 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2020-A5541-Introduced.html

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ASSEMBLY, No. 5541

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED MAY 5, 2021

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  SHAVONDA E. SUMTER

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requires civil service examination for police and correctional police officers to include questions to identify implicit racial bias.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  

An Act concerning the Civil Service Examination for law enforcement officers and supplementing Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    The Civil Service Commission, in consultation with the appropriate testing professional, shall include on the Civil Service Examination for entry-level law enforcement officers questions designed to identify implicit bias, including racial bias. 

 

     2.    This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following enactment, but the Civil Service Commission may take any anticipatory administrative action necessary to implement the provisions of this act. 

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill requires the State Civil Service Commission to include on the Civil Service entry-level law enforcement examination questions designed to identify implicit bias, including racial bias, in candidates applying for appointment to law enforcement officer positions.  The test is required for applicants for municipal and county police officers, adult and juvenile correctional police officers, sheriff's officers, and other law enforcement officer positions. 

     Implicit bias refers to unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions and may cause feelings and attitudes about other people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, and appearance.