TRENTON – Today, the Senate advanced legislation sponsored by Senators Troy Singleton and Angela McKnight aimed at ensuring that law enforcement officers are prepared for situations involving barricaded individuals as well as that use of force policies are regularly updated, consider the sanctity of human life, and prioritize de-escalation.

The bill, S-2348, would require the Attorney General to develop and include barricaded individual training for law enforcement officers. Any revisions to existing guidelines would be required to further certain key components and principles, such as a differentiation for situations that involve a mental health crisis, consideration of the primary language of a barricaded individual, the incorporation of crisis intervention, negotiation, and resolution techniques, the appropriate role and use of mental health professionals when available, as well as other required components.

“It is essential to ensure that law enforcement throughout our state are afforded training and guided by policies that are focused on the principles that form the bedrock of proper policing,” said Senator Singleton (D-Burlington). “Enshrining the prioritization of de-escalation and the use of only reasonable force into law will help ensure that use of force policy remains consistently focused on these principles throughout all future administrations.”

The legislation would additionally require the Attorney General to review the statewide use of force policy at least even-numbered year, though if deemed necessary by the Attorney General it would be permitted to be reviewed in a shorter timeframe. The Attorney General would be required to consider the sanctity of human life, prioritize de-escalation prior to use of force, to promote the use of only reasonable, necessary, and proportional force, as well as to articulate other duties relevant to the use of force such as a law enforcement officer’s duty to intervene, to render medical assistance, and to report and review uses of force.

In reviewing use of force policy, the Attorney General would also be required to conduct three public hearings in each of the northern, central, and southern regions of the state in order to receive feedback from the community and local law enforcement related to the policy. The Attorney General would transmit any revisions to the policy to the chief or director of every county and municipal law enforcement department, every municipal and county prosecutor, and the Superintendent of the State Police. Furthermore, the Attorney General would be required to establish and maintain a procedure for reporting incidents involving use of force to the Department of Law and Public Safety and to compile such information on a publicly accessible website.

“After the Attorney General’s takeover of the Paterson Police Department in 2023, discipline imposed upon city officers increased significantly. In Paterson and throughout many parts of the nation, reports of police brutality reduce the public’s confidence in those who are meant to serve and protect them, while giving the earnest, dedicated officers who represent the vast majority a bad name,” said Senator Angela McKnight (D-Hudson). “This bill will help ensure that statewide use of force policies are consistent with the principles that ought to guide policing, that police are given the training they need to appropriately handle situations involving barricaded individuals, and in so doing help repair the public’s confidence in policing.”

The bill was passed by the Senate in a 24-14 vote.

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