New Jersey State Police
The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors.[2]
New Jersey State Police
NJSP
Honor, Duty, Fidelity
March 29, 1921
3,811 (as of 2022)[1]
New Jersey, USA
8,729 square miles (22,610 km2)
9.24 million (2022 est.)
2,800 (as of 2022)[1]
1,226[1]
- Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, Superintendent
- Troop A: Southern New Jersey (including the Atlantic City Expressway)
- Troop B: Northern New Jersey
- Troop C: Central New Jersey
- Troop D: New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway
Motto and badge[edit]
"Honor, Duty, Fidelity", the motto of the New Jersey State Police was adapted from the West Point motto "Duty, Honor, Country". The triangular state police logo and hat badge represents this motto. The badge has stars in each of its three corners and was created by New York jeweler Julius George Schwarzkopf, the father of founder Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf. The NJSP logo includes the year 1921, date of founding, in place of a badge number.[6]
Training for recruits takes place at the State Police Academy located in Sea Girt, New Jersey. The academy is both physically and mentally demanding on the recruit. The recruits live at the academy during the week and are responsible for the upkeep of the barracks and academy grounds, as well as their equipment and uniforms. The curriculum consists of ten units of study that increase in difficulty and complexity over the 24 weeks of training.[7] Drop out rate for new recruits in the academy is above or close to 35% per class. Some areas/units of study include:
The New Jersey State Police adopted the Glock 19 Gen 4 9mm semiautomatic pistol as their new service pistol after the agency sued SIG Sauer for manufacturing defective pistols. The New Jersey State Police were using the SIG Sauer P229 semiautomatic pistol before they transitioned to the Glock 19 Gen 4 semiautomatic pistol. The New Jersey State Police also use the Benelli M1 shotgun.
The current organization of the New Jersey State Police is:[11]
This department is a member of the New York-New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.[14]
Traffic management[edit]
NJSP is one third of the participants of a traffic management center called STMC (Statewide Traffic Management Center) located in Woodbridge, NJ.
STMC is also the home to New Jersey Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. The STMC is staffed 24/7 and is responsible for the coordination and logistics of statewide resources during major incidents within the State of New Jersey.
As of 2007, the demographics of the New Jersey State Police was as follows:[15]
Law enforcement accreditation[edit]
The New Jersey State Police, as of July 2007, received a coveted law enforcement accreditation after more than a year of intense reviews and grading. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) bestowed the honor at a meeting of their commissioners in Montreal, Quebec.[16]
The award is the culmination of a two-year process that included on-site inspections from a national team representing the commission. Assessors examined files, conducted panel interviews of staff members, inspected facilities, and performed ride-a-longs with troopers.
Accreditation brings several significant benefits. Primarily, it improves public safety services by comparing the New Jersey State Police to the best procedures currently used by law enforcement and raising any non-compliant areas up to those standards. Additionally, it creates accountability to a respected benchmarking group that knows the work of modern policing. Public trust is bolstered by way of the transparency involved in the whole CALEA accreditation process.
Controversy[edit]
Meal allowances[edit]
Until 1949, the state police provided a meal to patrol officers at the nearest station which was replaced with a meal allowance so they did not need to leave the area where they were patrolling. The IRS challenged a tax return arguing that, unlike the actual meal, the meal allowance was taxable. In Commissioner v. Kowalski, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the IRS that the income was now taxable.