Bill Text: NJ S1794 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires certain law enforcement officers be periodically vetted for evidence of personal bias.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [S1794 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S1794-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain law enforcement officers be periodically vetted for evidence of personal bias.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning law enforcement officers and supplementing Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A State, county, or municipal police department or force, as applicable, shall conduct a personal bias check of a law enforcement officer employed by a State or local unit. The personal bias check shall be conducted upon hiring the law enforcement officer and every five years thereafter. The personal bias check shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) a review of any publicly accessible information pertaining to the law enforcement officer that demonstrates:
(a) evidence of personal bias or prejudice held by the law enforcement officer against a person or group by reason of the person's or group's race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity; and
(b) evidence of involvement or affiliation by the law enforcement officer with an extremist group; and
(2) the administration of a test, developed in consultation with the appropriate testing professional, that is designed to identify bias, including, but not limited to, explicit and implicit bias against a person or group by reason of the person's or group's race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity.
b. As used in this section:
"Extremist group" means a group that utilizes the unlawful use or threat of force in furtherance of an ideological agenda derived from bias against a person or group or anti-government or anti-authority sentiment, including opposition to perceived economic, social, or racial hierarchies, or perceived government overreach, negligence, or illegitimacy.
"Law enforcement officer" means a person 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.
c. The Attorney General shall promulgate guidelines and procedures to effectuate the provisions of this section.
2. This act shall take
effect on the first day of the fourth month next following enactment, but the
Attorney General may take any anticipatory administrative action necessary to
implement the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires certain law enforcement officers to be periodically vetted for evidence of personal bias.
Under the bill, a State, county, or municipal police department or force, as applicable, is required to conduct a personal bias check of a law enforcement officer employed by that State or local unit. The personal bias check is to be conducted upon hiring the law enforcement officer and every five years thereafter.
The personal bias check is required to include, but not be limited to, a review of any publicly accessible information pertaining to the law enforcement officer that demonstrates: (1) evidence of personal bias or prejudice held by the law enforcement officer against a person or group by reason of the person's or group's race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity; and (2) evidence of involvement or affiliation by the law enforcement officer with an extremist group.
The personal bias check is also required to include the administration of a test, developed in consultation with the appropriate testing professional, that is designed to identify bias, including, but not limited to, explicit and implicit bias against a person or group by reason of the person or group's race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity.
The bill defines "extremist group" to mean a group that utilizes the unlawful use or threat of force in furtherance of an ideological agenda derived from bias against a person or group or anti-government or anti-authority sentiment, including opposition to perceived economic, social, or racial hierarchies, or perceived government overreach, negligence, or illegitimacy.
