The Senate voted 36-0 today to approve making the PFRS 20 and Out benefit permanent. At the same time the Assembly State and Local Government Committee also approved the bill and sent it to the Assembly for final passage.

The bill is a State PBA priority and it simply removes an existing sunset provision that would have forced the law to expire in May. The law provides a 50% pension benefit at 20 years of service as a safety net for officers who are burned out and wish to retire early. The Assembly is expected to pass the bill by the end of May to send it to Governor Murphy for his approval.

Today the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a 5-2 decision denying the NJ State PBA’s request to stay the order of the Appellate Division that upheld Governor Murphy’s vaccination mandate that applies to all State and County Correctional Police Officers. Despite two justices voting in favor of granting our request for a stay, we recognize that the Court has spoken.

The State PBA along with our 11,000 members that are affected by this mandate are disappointed that we were unsuccessful in this challenge. We are currently reviewing this decision with legal counsel to ensure that our members have a firm understanding of the decision and can undertake any individual appellate rights that they may have available to them.

Governor Murphy signed two bills of great importance to the State PBA today prior to the end of his first term in office.  The State PBA had initiated the drafting and quick movement of the bills to address two serious and pressing needs for PBA members across the State.  These bills close out a highly successful legislative session for State PBA initiated bills to protect and enhance the law enforcement profession in New Jersey.

First, in order to address a law and AG policy that prohibited an officer from reviewing their Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage when writing their initial reports, the State PBA proposed Assembly Bill 5864 to correct the policy.  The bill signed by the Governor today expressly permits an officer to review their BWC when writing initial reports except in certain matters relating to the use of a firearm, death, violation of the excessive use of force policy or other similar serious matters.  

The law will ensure accuracy in countless police reports and assist officers to properly record a situation.  The State PBA is grateful to the bill sponsor and State PBA member, Assemblywoman Shanique Speight, for her leadership in pushing the bill and to Governor Murphy for working with the State PBA on it.

Second, in order to address the depletion of public safety spending on officer salary and equipment in Atlantic City since the State takeover of the city, the State PBA worked closely with Senate President Steve Sweeney and the State FMBA on a bill to establish a $2 room fee on every casino hotel guest room that will be set aside in a special fund for use only for officer salary, training, retention and equipment.  

Senate Bill 4311 will raise millions per year that will restore Department funding and officer morale to the Atlantic City Police Department.  The bill will assist in retaining officers in the Department and provide much needed finances to restore officer salary that was cut before and after the State takeover six years ago.  The State PBA is truly grateful to Senator Sweeney for immediately saying yes when asked to sponsor this bill and, along with Speaker Coughlin, for making it a lame duck priority.  We applaud Governor Murphy for working with us to develop additional language to ensure that the money is secured and its spending prioritized to benefit the Officers and the City.

WOODBRIDGE - New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Colligan today called on Trenton Council President Kathy McBride to allow a vote to take place on the resolution she recently tabled allocating $4 million in coronavirus relief funds for new radio equipment for the city’s first responders. 

McBride’s decision to pull the resolution without explanation in advance of Tuesday’s council meeting means Trenton’s police and first responders will soon have no means of communication to coordinate in the event of an emergency and can only result in putting city residents in peril. 

“Council President McBride appears to be prioritizing anything but the people she is supposed to represent in refusing to allow this resolution to come to a vote,” said Colligan.  “It is imperative that Trenton police and first responders have the means to effectively communicate and coordinate in the event of an incident, and the resources are available to achieve the commonsense solution of providing those services.  There is only one outcome for residents if this misguided decision to table Tuesday’s resolution is allowed to move forward, and it would simply defy all reason to knowingly put city residents in danger.”

In a private ceremony in his office Governor Murphy today signed into law legislation the State PBA has pursued for years to ban police departments from using tickets and citations as a way to evaluate as well as punish officers.  The new law removes tickets and citations issued by an officer from their “performance evaluations” and prevents discipline for officers using tickets as a justification. 

“For far too long unscrupulous local governments and police supervisors have tried to establish inappropriate ticket quotas,” State PBA President Pat Colligan said after the signing.  “Police officers are not revenue collectors as some towns have tried to make them and creating quotas means ordering an officer to target motorists or face punishment.  That ends today.”

The private bill signing was attended by State PBA leadership in recognition of the PBA’s initiation of the bill and its pursuit of passing it this session. 

“I want to thank our sponsors Senator Turner, Senator Addiego, Assemblyman Wirths, Assemblyman Taliaferro and all the co-sponsors for taking on this fight for us”, Colligan said. “This law will go far to further build trust between New Jersey police and the public.”