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

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 6, March 18, 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: