A bipartisan coalition of New Jersey lawmakers are moving to establish the state police as an independent department reporting directly to the governor — taking it away from Democratic state Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s oversight.
The measure — introduced both in the state Assembly and Senate — would allocate all state police resources out of the attorney general’s Department of Law and Public Safety and recreate the force as a standalone cabinet agency. Supporters argue it will free state police from the attorney general’s alleged micromanagement.
“I don’t think a politically-appointed lawyer who does not know anything about policing should be the person responsible for the State Police to report to,” Democratic state Sen. James Beach, the bill’s main sponsor, told Politico.
Neither Beach or Platkin’s office responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment. (RELATED: Top Union Sticks Dagger In Democratic Party’s Back As New Jersey Gov Race Heats Up)
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ – MAY 16: A police officer patrols as people traverse the Seaside Heights boardwalk as the state begins to reopen beaches and boardwalks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic on May 16, 2020 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. (Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)
Republican Sen. Anthony Bucco and Robert Singer frame the plan as a cure for bureaucratic drag. Bucco said promotions now “take a long time to get approved … because the attorney general’s office is enormous,” while Singer quipped that Platkin “hasn’t missed poking anybody in the eye, from the governor on down,” according to New Jersey Monitor.
Neither Bucco or Singer immediately responded to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
No lawmaker has publicly condemned the bills, but civil rights organizations are wary. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) New Jersey State Conference “conceptually supports” detaching the force yet warns lawmakers to add an inspector general with subpoena power “to give [the bill] teeth,” NAACP attorney Gregg Zeff told the Monitor.
Lauren Bonds of the National Police Accountability Project added state police being beholden to the governor is “the standard model” in a statement to the outlet. (RELATED: NJ Rail Workers Agree To End Strike After Weekend Of Commuter Chaos)
Platkin spent his tenure continuing the legacy of his predecessor, former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, who leaned hard on the 3,000 trooper force — Platkin published a sweeping report last year alleging racial favoritism in promotions and “a culture … that favors white male troopers,” then stripping the agency of its human resources unit and embedding outside investigators inside internal affairs desks.
The ACLU of New Jersey hailed the moves as “meaningful accountability measures,” saying the findings echoed years of bias complaints.
Following the report, a 2023 memo from the State Troopers Fraternal Association (STFA) President Wayne Blanchard warned members that “every stop and enforcement action you take will be highly scrutinized,” and accused “internal and external entities who seemingly wish to see us fail” of picking apart their work, according to Politico.
The STFA did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Officers retaliated when Platkin’s office opened a probe into an alleged ticket-writing slowdown that followed a state analysis showing minority motorists were disproportionately stopped. Platkin said the probe would “ensure accountability for those involved,” — The New York Times reported citations had fallen more than 81% from 2023 to 2024. Tickets ranged from distracted to drunk driving, and the newfound leniency saw a corresponding uptick in crashes throughout the Garden State.
If lawmakers ram the overhaul through before summer recess, the winner of November’s gubernatorial showdown between Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill would be able to appoint New Jersey’s first police commissioner on day one. If they stall, the shake-up will wait for another session — and Platkin’s reforms, loved by civil rights groups and loathed by many troopers, will keep running.
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