TRENTON
– Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
announced today the results of the 13th
Independent Monitors Report which, for
a second consecutive reporting period,
finds the State Police in 100 percent
compliance with all requirements of a
federal Consent Decree.
While observing “dramatic”
and “remarkable” evidence
of continued progress throughout the State
Police organization, the new Monitoring
Report makes particular note of a “major
milestone” achieved over the past
six months in the area of field operations.
Specifically, the report lauds virtually
error-free performance by State Police
personnel in handling such field-operations-related
tasks as consent searches, detentions
and arrests.
The Monitoring Report makes clear that
“no indications of racial profiling”
were found in State Police traffic stops
reviewed during the latest monitoring
period. The report also refers to the
consistently high caliber of work observed
in field operations as “truly remarkable
considering the complexity of the law
enforcement processes under scrutiny.”
Based on these findings, the report recommends
that direct monitoring of State Police
field operations be scaled back for the
remainder of the Consent Decree. While
the report advocates continued, same-level
monitoring of such areas as field supervision,
training, and management review processes,
it notes that “there is little to
be gained” by continuing to devote
the same amount of monitoring activity
to review of State Police traffic stop
video tapes and other field operations
indicators.
“The
latest Independent Monitoring Report shows
an extraordinary level of compliance with
the Consent Decree – for a second
straight monitoring phase. That is testimony
not only to the hard work of the State
Police organization, but the Office of
State Police Affairs as well. Working
collaboratively, the two agencies are
setting a national standard for statewide
policing practices,” said Attorney
General Harvey. “I commend the State
Police organization for having the resourcefulness,
and the will, to implement historic change
while maintaining its usual standard of
excellence in protecting New Jerseyans.”
Filed today with the U.S. District Court
in Trenton, the new Monitoring Report
reflects information compiled during a
six-month period spanning April 1, 2005
through September 30, 2005 by Independent
Monitors Dr. James Ginger and Alberto
Rivas. As part of their work, the monitors
conducted a variety of on-site review
activities. As was the case with the 12th
Independent Monitors Report issued in
July 2005, the latest report indicates
that State Police motor vehicle stops
reviewed by the monitoring team were “remarkably
trouble-free,” and that the relatively
few errors committed by road Troopers
were caught by supervisors. Moreover,
all of the errors were considered by the
monitoring team to be “technical”
in nature, not Constitutional, and therefore
not substantially related to Consent Decree
compliance.
“Our
troopers have continued to effectively
enforce the laws and protect public safety
while allowing us to meet -- and even
exceed -- the expectations of the federal
monitors for the past year,” said
State Police Superintendent Col. Rick
Fuentes. “We have set a baseline
for performance that will keep us at the
forefront of modern policing – a
baseline on which we will continue to
improve.”
In addition to high marks for State Police
field operations, the latest Monitoring
Report includes recognition of continued
“full compliance” with the
Consent Decree regarding implementation
and operation of the data system known
as MAPPS (Management Awareness Personnel
Performance System). Among other things,
MAPPS enables State Police to isolate
and evaluate the patrol and enforcement
activities of individual troopers, individual
stations, specific patrol shifts, etc.
MAPPS can be used to review job performance
by Troopers and supervisory personnel,
to compare an individual’s performance
with the performance of others in the
same work group, and to compare performance
across work groups. MAPPS is currently
used in trooper performance evaluations,
and in such discipline-related activities
as verbal counseling and Trooper retraining.
Regarding training, the new Monitoring
Report praises the “focus, attention
to detail, commitment of resources and
results” achieved by the State Police
Training Academy during the latest monitoring
period. The report takes notice of improvements
in “virtually all areas” of
the State Police training function, but
also notes that, in the upcoming 14th
review period, the monitors expect to
see more data regarding the impact of
training in the field.
Regarding supervision, the Monitoring
Report notes that State Police supervisors
appear “fully engaged in the Consent
Decree compliance process.” Specifically,
the report credits supervisors with being
thorough in reviewing traffic stop video
tapes, and consistently alert in observing
minor departures from Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP) and/or other errors that
require counseling, retraining or other
corrective action. Based on available
evidence, the monitors note, “State
Police supervisory and management review
processes are effective, engaged and supportive
of improved policing processes.”
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