Bill would require bias and extremism screening for New Jersey cops

Proposed legislation would require law enforcement agencies to review officers for signs of prejudice and ties to extremist groups every five years

State Sen. Angela McKnight wants New Jersey police departments to screen officers for personal bias and potential ties to extremist groups under legislation she says would help identify prejudice and strengthen public trust in law enforcement.

The bill, S-3760, introduced in March, would require local, county, and state police departments to review publicly accessible information that could reveal an officer’s prejudices.

Agencies would vet officers when they are hired and every five years thereafter to identify extremist connections or signs of bias based on race, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or ethnicity.

The attorney general, who effectively functions as the state’s top law enforcement officer, would have broad authority to develop the program and create a test officers would have to take, McKnight said.

“We need to be able to quickly identify bias,” she told The Jersey Vindicator. “And if we put this in the statute, we’re better equipped to respond — and also prevent something from happening.”

“In New Jersey, we hold our dedicated law enforcement to a higher standard,” she continued. “This will definitely address the broader issue of bias and bridge the gap between law enforcement and the public.”

But the proposal, which has been referred to the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee, has already drawn pushback from the leader of the state’s largest police union.

“We would oppose this legislation strongly,” said Peter Andreyev, head of the New Jersey Policemen’s Benevolent Association. “The bill perpetuates a fiction that New Jersey law enforcement agencies are crawling with hidden, and not so hidden, racist police officers. That is simply false and offensive.”

New Jersey’s cops are some of the “best-trained and most highly scrutinized in the nation,” he added, and already are subject to a licensing review that evaluates conduct that could be considered biased.

So far, the state’s Police Training Commission has denied licenses to less than 1% of officers, he said. Few, if any, of those denials involved racism.

“There are simply no stats that would justify this law or the reasoning behind it,” he said. “I am a minority, as is [the union’s] executive vice president, and so we are more than keenly attentive to ensuring that New Jersey police are free of bias.”

One police expert said he is wary of the proposal because it does not provide many specifics, such as how officers who violate the policy would be punished.

“I’m not against the premise, but I’m highly suspicious,” said Brian Higgins, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and the former chief of the Bergen County Police Department. “The bill is very lightly worded, and that’s a red flag. There’s not much to bite into, and I have more questions than answers when I read it.”

“Does it hurt to grill people’s social media? Absolutely not,” he continued. “But we have to come up with some standards. How will they be disciplined? Will they be disciplined for reposting a story?”

Higgins also said law enforcement should not need a law directing departments to review officers’ online activities and affiliations.

“Police departments should be aware and be doing basic social media checks,” he said.

It is not clear whether departments already conduct such reviews.

The New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, a membership organization for police leaders across the state, did not respond to a request for comment.

Still, McKnight said the measure is not intended to be a “gotcha bill,” but rather a first step.

“It’s meant to identify where we are failing to address biases and how we can improve,” she said. “We can definitely figure this out.”