ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 806

with Assembly committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 13, 1996

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 806 (1R), with commitee amendments.

      Assembly Bill No. 806 (1R), as amended, directs the Commissioner of Personnel to establish a 24-hour "Law Enforcement Officer Crisis Intervention Services" telephone hotline. The hotline would receive and respond to calls from law enforcement officers and sheriffs' officers who have been involved in any event or incident which has produced personal or job-related depression, anxiety, stress, or other psychological or emotional tension, trauma, pressure, or disorder for the officer. The hotline operators are to seek to identify those officers who should be referred to further debriefing and counseling services, and to provide such referrals.

      The hotline is to be established by the Commissioner of Personnel rather than a law enforcement agency in an effort to ensure that the names of the callers and the information exchanged will not be revealed to an officer's superiors or employer. The bill does provide, however, for the commissioner to establish guidelines to provide for the tracking of an officer who exhibits such a severe emotional or psychological disorder or condition that the operator taking the call reasonably believes harm might result to the officer or to others.

      In establishing the hotline, the commissioner is to consult with representatives from the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police, the New Jersey State Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, the New Jersey Corrections Officers Association, and other parties who can contribute to the development and operation of an effective program.

      The bill also directs the commissioner to prepare a list of licensed or certified psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers; qualified counselors; and experienced former law enforcement officers who are willing to participate in the program and provide debriefing and counseling services.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      No fiscal note has been prepared on this bill.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The amendments, at the request of the sponsor, remove the additional surcharge from motor vehicle violations for funding the hotline. In addition, the amendments add sheriffs' officers in various sections of the bill to clarify that they are included in the bill's provisions.