Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblywoman BRITNEE N. TIMBERLAKE
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Carter, Sumter, Assemblymen Verrelli, Holley, Assemblywomen Tucker, Quijano, McKnight, Assemblymen Wimberly, Johnson and Senator Ruiz
SYNOPSIS
Requires DLPS to incorporate implicit bias in cultural diversity training materials for law enforcement officers; makes mandatory cultural diversity and implicit bias training for law enforcement officers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning law enforcement training and amending P.L.2016, c.23.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2016, c.23 (C.52:17B-77.13) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. The Department of Law and Public Safety shall develop or identify uniform cultural diversity and implicit bias training course materials and an online tutorial that shall include instruction designed to promote positive interaction with, and community outreach to, all residents within a community, including residents of all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals residing within the community. Components of the training course materials and online tutorial shall include, but not be limited to, instruction on:
(1) the various cultural communities and the effects of diversity on community relations within a community;
(2) appropriate methods by which an officer may interact with people of various cultures and religions in the community, with an emphasis on officer safety skills and conflict resolution techniques;
(3) best practices in law enforcement techniques when analyzing and solving local neighborhood problems, meeting with community groups, and working with citizens on crime prevention programs; [and]
(4) the impact that police diversity skills have on overall law enforcement effectiveness; and
(5) understanding implicit bias and employing strategies to eliminate unconscious biases that shape behavior and produce disparate treatment of individuals based on their race, ethnicity, religious belief, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics.
b. The Department of Law and Public Safety shall cause the training course materials and online tutorial developed or identified pursuant to subsection a. of this section to be made available to every State, county, and municipal law enforcement department in the State and to each campus police department at an institution of higher education in the State that appoints police officers pursuant to P.L.1970, c.211 (C.18A:6-4.2 et seq.) for use in providing officer training and information promoting community outreach efforts within the law enforcement department's community.
c. The Department of Law and Public Safety shall periodically assess the training course materials and online tutorial developed or identified pursuant to subsection a. of this section and update them where the department finds appropriate.
(cf: P.L.2016, c.23, s.1)
2. Section 2 of P.L.2016, c.23 (C. 52:17B-77.14) is amended to read as follows:
2. Every State, county, and municipal law enforcement department in the State and every campus police department at an institution of higher education in the State that appoints police officers pursuant to P.L.1970, c.211 (C.18A:6-4.2 et seq.) [may] shall provide once every five years in-service training of its personnel utilizing the training course materials or online tutorial developed or identified by the Department of Law and Public Safety pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2016, c.23 (C.52:17B-77.13).
(cf: P.L.2016, c.23, s.2)
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires State, county, municipal, and campus law enforcement agencies to provide implicit bias training. The training is to include understanding implicit bias and employing strategies to eliminate unconscious biases that shape behavior and produce disparate treatment of individuals based on their race, ethnicity, religious belief, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics.
Under current law, the Department of Law and Public Safety (DLPS) is required to develop or identify uniform cultural diversity training course materials which may be utilized by police departments. This bill requires the DLPS to include bias training in these training materials and requires all law enforcement agencies to provide cultural diversity and implicit bias training once every five years.