New Jersey Administrative Code › Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS › Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE › Section - Executive Order No. 201 (2020)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 201 (2020)
An Order to Bring Changes to the Use of Body Worn Cameras by New Jersey Law Enforcement
Issued: November 24, 2020.
Effective: November 24, 2020.
WHEREAS, the State of New Jersey is committed to serving as a model for the nation on effective policing practices and criminal justice reform; and
WHEREAS, the Attorney General has sought, through the "Excellence in Policing" initiative, to promote the professionalism, accountability, and transparency that are hallmarks of New Jersey's best law enforcement agencies; and
WHEREAS, ensuring trust between the police and the communities they serve is a critical component of public safety; and
WHEREAS, the vast majority of New Jersey's 38,000 law enforcement officers serve the public in accordance with the highest standards of professionalism and integrity; and
WHEREAS, the deployment of body worn camera systems by law enforcement agencies can be a powerful tool for building community trust, both by creating a record of law enforcement professionalism in interactions with the public, and by providing evidence of officer misconduct when it does occur; and
WHEREAS, body worn camera footage can also be utilized to improve training for law enforcement officers, by enabling scenario-based review of past encounters with the public; and
WHEREAS, Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive No. 2015-1 establishes mandatory standards for the handling and storage of body worn camera footage; and
WHEREAS, as of September 23, 2020, 237 of the State's 537 law enforcement agencies now equip some or all of their officers with body-worn cameras; and
WHEREAS, many more law enforcement agencies recognize the benefits of body worn camera systems, but find the adoption of such systems to be prohibitively expensive or logistically difficult; and
WHEREAS, a significant factor in the cost and utilization of body worn camera systems is the ongoing expense of storing and retrieving body worn camera footage, which currently requires that law enforcement agencies individually contract directly with private vendors; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey's municipal government structure provides municipalities with the authority to establish their own services, but which can have the effect of hindering cooperation on problems common across the State; and
WHEREAS, my Administration is dedicated to promoting and supporting shared services as a way to reduce costs borne by individual municipalities and take advantage of economies of scale; and
WHEREAS, a statewide, centralized solution for the storage and retrieval of body worn camera footage could leverage the State's purchasing power to significantly reduce the costs associated with doing so, which would lower the financial and logistical barriers to system adoption for law enforcement agencies, and
WHEREAS, reducing the costs associated with adopting a comprehensive body worn camera program will accelerate the implementation of body worn camera systems across the state; and
WHEREAS, the review of a statewide solution for the storage of body worn camera footage has not previously been conducted; and
WHEREAS, a statewide, centralized solution would facilitate the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability's review of use of force and death in custody incidents, thereby streamlining the process to ensure timely release of video footage to the public pursuant to Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive 2019-4; and
WHEREAS, such a solution would benefit from the input of stakeholders across State government and law enforcement in New Jersey;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. There is hereby created the Interagency Working Group on Body Worn Cameras ("Working Group"), which shall be responsible for providing advice and recommendations to the Governor's Office and to the Attorney General regarding technology solutions to facilitate the statewide implementation of body worn cameras in law enforcement agencies.
2. The objectives of the Working Group shall include the following:
a. Consulting with law enforcement agencies to identify barriers to the adoption of body worn camera systems;
b. Identifying and recommending potential technology solutions to facilitate the adoption of body worn camera systems by police departments, including the potential provision of centralized statewide or regional storage systems;
c. Developing recommended strategies for implementation of a body worn camera solution for police departments, including any actions that must be taken by agencies of state government; and
d. Recommending any necessary changes to existing policies, whether by executive action or legislation, related to the deployment of body worn camera systems or the storage and handling of body worn camera footage.