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Hearing Unit Cover and Text Public Hearing before SENATE LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE “The Committee will hear testimony in person from invited guests concerning various issues relating to police reform” LOCATION: Committee Room 4 DATE: July 15, 2020 State House Annex 10:00 a.m. Trenton, New Jersey MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE PRESENT: Senator Linda R. Greenstein, Chair Senator Joseph P. Cryan, Vice Char Senator Ronald L. Rice Senator Anthony M. Bucco Senator Declan J. O’Scanlon, Jr. ALSO PRESENT: Alison Accettola Anne M. Stefane Jack Barnes Sarah Fletcher Office of Legislative Services Senate Majority Senate Republican Committee Aide Committee Aides Committee Aide This transcript was prepared using an outside recording not designed for transcription purposes. Therefore, portions of this transcript may not be completely accurate as portions were inaudible and/or indiscernible. Meeting Transcribed by The Office of Legislative Services, Public Information Office, Hearing Unit, State House Annex, PO 068, Trenton, New Jersey TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Gurbir S. Grewal, Esq. Attorney General Office of the Attorney General Department of Law and Public Safety State of New Jersey 3 Richard T. Smith President New Jersey State Conference, and Member Board of Directors National Office National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) 54 Ras J. Baraka Mayor City of Newark 66 Senator Nellie Pou Legislative District 35 84 Peter C. Harvey, Esq. Former Attorney General State of New Jersey 88 Zellie Y. Thomas Representing Black Lives Matter Paterson, and Teacher Paterson Public Schools 101 Wayne Blanchard President New Jersey State Troopers Fraternal Association (NJSTFA) 108 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Reverend Dr. Charles F. Boyer Executive Director Salvation and Social Justice 124 Sean Lavin Executive Director Labor Council, and Chair Legislative Committee New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police (NJFOP) 136 John Scott Thomson Former Chief of Police Camden County Police Department 147 Jiles H. Ship Chapter President National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE NJ), AND Commissioner New Jersey Police Training Commission 166 Patrick Colligan President New Jersey Policemen’s Benevolent Association (NJPBA) 186 Nadine Jones, Esq. Executive Director and Co-Founder The Initiative: Advancing the Blue and Black Partnership 209 Brooke Lewis, Esq. Trustee Social Justice Legal Advocacy Fellow New Jersey Institute for Social Justice 224 APPENDIX: Testimony, plus Internal Affairs Policy and Procedures, and Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive Nos. 2019-4, 6, 7, and 8, and Letters submitted by Gurbir S. Grewal, Esq. 1x TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) APPENDIX (continued) Page Testimony submitted by Zellie Y. Thomas 122x Testimony submitted by Wayne Blanchard 124x Testimony submitted by Reverend Dr. Charles F. Boyer 128x Testimony submitted by Nadine Jones, Esq. 132x Testimony submitted by Brooke Lewis, Esq. 140x Testimony submitted by Lloyd D. Henderson, Esq. President Camden County East Branch National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAACP) 145x Testimony, plus attachments submitted by CJ Griffin, Esq. Director Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden 146x TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) APPENDIX (continued) Page Letter, addressed to The Honorable Linda R. Greenstein, and The Honorable Joseph P. Cryan from Melissa Wasser Policy Analyst Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press 155x Testimony submitted by Linda Foster, Esq. President The Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (ACDL-NJ) 158x Testimony submitted by Austin Skelton Private Citizen 161x Statement submitted by William O. Wagstaff III, Esq. Attorney for the family of Maurice Gordon Jr. 162x Statement, plus change.org petition (online only) submitted by Gale Muhammad President and Founder Women Who Never Give Up, Inc. (WWNG UP) 163x pnf:1-230 SENATOR LINDA R. GREENSTEIN (Chair): Good morning, everybody; and welcome to this very special meeting of the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee. We’re grateful to have a wonderful list of speakers today, albeit a long list. So we’re going to -- we’ve told everybody to try to limit the length of their testimony a little so we have time for Q and A. Let’s begin with a pledge to the flag. (all recite the Pledge of Allegiance) Thank you. Okay; our first speaker today will be Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, who will be talking about his many efforts that are ongoing to deal with this issue of police reform. General. General, would you forgive me? Sit right where you are. I just remembered I have an opening statement today, which I’m not used to having at these Committee meetings. So let me start by giving my opening statement. Over the last several weeks, I have spent most of my time talking to experts, including community leaders, about two issues. One is the future of policing in New Jersey and America; the other is America’s long history of systemic racism that is evident in inequalities in wages, health care, housing, education, economic opportunity, and, yes, in the criminal justice system. My goal in these hearings is to identify the needed changes that we can all agree on, and implement those changes. Then there will be certain issues where communities and police have differences of opinion, and I want 1 to explore those issues and see if we can come up with some solutions to them. Ultimately, we will see where we are able to make legislative changes. I believe that we need to build better trust between police and communities of color. I liked the Obama 21st Century Policing report emphasis on police as guardians, not warriors. Police cannot be seen as an occupying force, coming in from the outside to impose control over the community. Law enforcement agencies must do all they can to encourage diversity. They should have clear policies on the use of force and de- escalation. Training and education must be top notch. I believe we need to improve psychological testing for recruits, and make sure that future officers eventually have a four-year college degree. Whether it’s in licensing or education for police, we need to engage community members, especially those with special expertise. In today’s hearing, we will be discussing licensing; training; use of force; minority recruiting; civilian review boards; body cameras; community policing; the changing role of police, including ideas for including social services as part of policing; and many other issues. We want to create a more robust police disciplinary process, and ensure independent investigations of officer-involved shootings. As the Attorney General says in his Excellence in Policing Initiative, “The goals are professionalism, accountability, and transparency.” 2 The culture of policing is beginning to change in that the Attorney General and the Superintendent of the State Police are building good relationships with community leaders. And at the same time, it is a moral imperative for us to address systemic racism, which refers to systems that create and maintain racial inequality in many facets of life. Governor Murphy recently said in a speech that, “Systemic racism is not the outward racism of hate groups, but the silent racism of complacency.” The horrific George Floyd case seems to be the turning point where people of all races, ages, and backgrounds are joining together and demanding change. I want to thank our wonderful group of speakers, Committee members, and our staff members who helped us put this together. Thank you very much; and now Attorney General, you’re on. A T T O R N E Y G E N E R A L G U R B I R S. G R E WA L, Esq.: Thank you, Chairwoman Greenstein and members of the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee. Thank you for inviting me to join you today to talk about policing reform; an area in which New Jersey, in many ways, has been a leader, but now has the opportunity to become not just a, but the national model. The recent, tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks -- among countless others -- have brought this issue to the forefront of our national conversation. These tragedies have sparked the largest protest movement in our nation’s history. Since May 25, according to some estimates, as many as 26 million Americans have taken part in nearly 4,700 demonstrations, including hundreds in this state. These protests have 3 highlighted not only the racial divides, but also the systemic and implicit biases that continue to affect so many Americans. When it comes to policing, they have laid bare the gap in trust between law enforcement and many of the communities they serve, especially Black and brown communities. They have also led to calls for meaningful police reform, including increased accountability and transparency measures. States across the country, including New Jersey, have responded to these calls for change. But before discussing our recent efforts, it’s important to note that this work started in New Jersey well before current events. Over the past two years, Governor Murphy and I have worked hard to make New Jersey a national leader on policing practices. We have recognized, since day one, that law enforcement officers cannot do their jobs without the trust of the people they serve. To build and maintain that trust, we must institute policies and programs that promote transparency, accountability, and professionalism throughout law enforcement. And that’s precisely what we’ve done. Since 2018, we have implemented some of the most ambitious and progressive policing reforms in the country. We expanded on those efforts this past December, when we launched our Excellence in Policing initiative, which we have continued to build on throughout this year. Some of these programs are well underway. We mandated implicit bias training for all prosecutors, State and County detectives, and State Troopers. We created a statewide conviction review unit.
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