Bill Text: NJ A749 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Extends Class Two special law enforcement training for time deployed.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee [A749 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A749-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GREGORY P. MCGUCKIN
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Extends Class Two special law enforcement training for time deployed.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning Class Two special law enforcement training and amending P.L.1985, c.439.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 4 of P.L.1985, c.439 (C.40A:14-146.11) is amended to read as follows:
4. a. A person shall not commence the duties of a special law enforcement officer unless the person has successfully completed a training course approved by the commission and a special law enforcement officer shall not be issued a firearm unless the officer has successfully completed the basic firearms course approved by the commission for permanent, regularly appointed police and annual requalification examinations as required by subsection b. of section 7 of P.L.1985, c.439 (C.40A:14-146.14). There shall be three classifications for special police officers. The commission shall prescribe by rule or regulation the training standards to be established for each classification. Training may be in a commission approved academy or in any other training program which the commission may determine appropriate. The classifications shall be based upon the duties to be performed by the special law enforcement officer as follows:
(1) Class One. Officers of this class shall be authorized to perform routine traffic detail, spectator control, and similar duties. If authorized by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, Class One officers shall have the power to issue summonses for disorderly persons and petty disorderly persons offenses, violations of municipal ordinances, and violations of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes. The use of a firearm by an officer of this class shall be strictly prohibited and a Class One officer shall not be assigned any duties which may require the carrying or use of a firearm.
(2) Class Two. Officers of this class shall be authorized to exercise full powers and duties similar to those of a permanent, regularly appointed full-time police officer. The use of a firearm by an officer of this class may be authorized only after the officer has been fully certified as successfully completing training as prescribed by the commission.
(3) Class Three. Officers of this class shall be authorized to exercise full powers and duties similar to those of a permanent, regularly appointed full-time police officer while providing security at a public or nonpublic school or a county college on the school or college premises during hours when the public or nonpublic school or county college is normally in session or when it is occupied by public or nonpublic school or county college students or their teachers or professors. While on duty in the jurisdiction of employment, an officer may respond to offenses or emergencies off school or college grounds if they occur in the officer's presence while traveling to a school facility or county college, but an officer shall not otherwise be dispatched or dedicated to any assignment off school or college property.
The use of a firearm by an officer of this class shall be authorized pursuant to the provisions of subsection b. of section 7 of P.L.1985, c.439 (C.40A:14-146.14). An officer of this class shall not be authorized to carry a firearm while off duty unless the officer complies with the requirements set forth in subsection l. of N.J.S.2C:39-6 authorizing a retired law enforcement officer to carry a handgun.
b. The commission may, in its discretion, except from the requirements of this section any person who demonstrates to the commission's satisfaction that the person has successfully completed a police training course conducted by any federal, state or other public or private agency, the requirements of which are substantially equivalent to the requirements of [this act] P.L.1985, c.439.
c. The commission shall certify officers who have satisfactorily completed training programs and issue appropriate certificates to those officers. The certificate shall clearly state the category of certification for which the officer has been certified by the commission.
d. All special law enforcement officers appointed and in service on the effective date of [this act] P.L.1985, c.439 may continue in service if within 24 months of the effective date of [this act] P.L.1985, c.439 they will have completed all training and certification requirements of [this act] P.L.1985, c.439.
e. A person who is certified as having successfully completed a training course for Class Two special law enforcement officers approved by the commission pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be eligible for appointment for three years from the date that the course was completed. In the case of a member of the United States military, this three-year period shall be extended by the amount of time the member was deployed into active service, provided that the member completes any additional training that may be required by the commission. For the purposes of this subsection, "military" means the armed forces of the United States, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, the National Guard and any other reserve component of the armed forces, and the merchant marine when organized under the federal law as a public military force.
(cf: P.L.2016, c.68, s.2)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill extends the three-year time period during which a member of the United States military who had completed Class Two special law enforcement officer training could be appointed to a police department without retaking the training by the amount of time that the member was deployed into active service.
The bill defines "military" as the armed forces of the United States, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, the National Guard and any other reserve component of the armed forces, and the merchant marine when organized under the federal law as a public military force.
Under current law, municipalities are authorized to appoint a limited number of part-time special law enforcement officers to supplement their regular police forces. Many shore communities hire these officers during seasonal summer periods. Class Two special law enforcement officers are empowered to exercise full police powers and perform the duties of a permanent, regularly appointed full-time police officer. They also are authorized to carry a firearm.
Under Police Training Commission policy, a person who completes the Class Two special law enforcement basic police officer training program is certified for appointment to a police department for three years. A trainee who does not receive an appointment within those three years is required to retake the course. Under this bill, in the case of a trainee who is a member of the United States military, the certification period would be automatically extended for the amount of time that the trainee spent being deployed in active service.
