SENATE LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2348

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 16, 2024

      The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 2348.

      As reported by the committee, this bill requires the Attorney General to review and, if necessary, revise its use of force policy, as need may require and at least every two years.

     The bill also requires the Attorney General, in reviewing and revising the policy, to give due consideration to, at a minimum, the following core principles: 

· respecting the sanctity of human life and serving the community;

· prioritizing other reasonable measures, including de-escalation, that must be attempted before resorting to the use of force;

· promoting the use of only objectively reasonable, necessary and proportional force, including the use of deadly force only as a last resort; and

· articulating other duties attendant to the use of force, such as a law enforcement officer’s duty to intervene, to render medical assistance, and to report and review uses of force.

     The bill requires the policy to be transmitted to the chief or director of every municipal and county police department, every municipal and county prosecutor, and the Superintendent of State Police.