Bill Text: NJ S226 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Extends alternate route police training certification for military personnel for time deployed.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-14 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [S226 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S226-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator DIANE B. ALLEN
District 7 (Burlington)
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Extends alternate route police training certification for military personnel for time deployed.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning alternate route police training and amending P.L.1998, c.146.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.1998, c.146 (C.52:17B-69.1) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. A person who does not hold a probationary or temporary appointment as a police officer, but who is seeking such an appointment may enroll in a police training course provided that person:
(1) meets the general qualifications for a police officer set forth in N.J.S.40A:14-122 and such other qualifications as the commission may deem appropriate; and
(2) applies to and is accepted by a commission approved school for admission to a police training course.
The person may be charged a fee by the commission or approved school, as the case may be, not exceeding that which the commission approved school charges a governmental employer for the training of an employee holding a probationary or temporary appointment.
An appointing authority may, at its discretion, reimburse a person who has completed a police training course pursuant to this section for all or part of the costs of training.
b. The commission, in accordance with the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this section.
c. A person who is certified as having successfully completed a police training course pursuant to 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. 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.1998, c.146, s.2)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would extend the three-year time period during which a member of the United States military who had completed an alternate route police training program could be appointed to a police department 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, a person who does not hold a temporary or probationary appointment as a police officer is permitted to enroll in a police training course at the person's expense. A person who successfully completes the training course is eligible for appointment as a member of a county or municipal police department or force.
Under Police Training Commission policy, a person who completes this alternate route program is certified for appointment to a police department for three years (with exemptions granted in certain cases). A trainee who does not receive an appointment within those three years must 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.
According to the sponsor, members of the military seeking positions as police officers should not be penalized for the time they have spent honorably serving their country.
