A new report from the Office of the State Comptroller found that New Jersey State Police leadership has failed to prevent discriminatory treatment of minorities on the road by mostly ignoring initiatives designed to fix the issues.
The report released Tuesday alleges the agency's enactment of key policies and processes to address the problems has been "largely performative." While leaders met regularly and issued lengthy, data-driven reports, they "never meaningfully grappled with" trends that showed motorists of different racial and ethnic backgrounds were treated unfairly.
"The New Jersey State Police is not doing all it can to prevent and detect discrimination on New Jersey highways," said Kevin Walsh, the acting state comptroller. "The fact that for years the State Police was aware of data showing disparate treatment of people of color on our roads — yet took no action to combat those trends — shows that the problems run deeper than previously realized."
Since 2009, the comptroller's office has conducted annual reviews of State Police to determine compliance with the law and develop a system to eliminate discriminatory policing. The process followed the dissolution of a 10-year consent decree, which was implemented following a 1998 incident in which state troopers fired into a van carrying four unarmed basketball players — three Black, one Hispanic — traveling to an out-of-state tryout.
The state's new system included the creation of the Office of the Law Enforcement Professional Standards, or OLEPS, an agency within the attorney general's office that took over the day-to-day oversight of State Police from the federal level.
State Police Sgt. Charles Marchan said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon that the organization is "steadfastly committed to accountability and public trust." He added that State Police have fulfilled every requirement and "worked transparently and collaboratively" with the attorney general and OLEPS under the consent decree to protect New Jersey residents.
Attorney General Matthew Platkin created a public database in 2021 as a way to increase police transparency and accountability, featuring statistics in a variety of categories over the previous decade. Among the trends the data showed is that, despite white drivers being pulled over at more than three times the rate of Black drivers, state troopers were more likely to search, arrest and use force on Black drivers.
Last July, the AG released an independent report with data from 2009 to 2021 that showed "strong empirical evidence" of discrimination against Black and Hispanic motorists by State Police and OLEPS. The findings prompted the comptroller's office to further investigate the department's risk management process, which includes a panel comprised largely of police officials that determines how to eliminate biased policing.
The review found that State Police "provide[d] little or limited responses" in explaining disparities in the data among different racial and ethnic groups, according to the comptroller's report. It also revealed that high-level officials failed to recommend any initiatives to address the trends, instead refusing to consider implicit bias as a possible explanation for the imbalance.
The comptroller also found that the new State Police record system, in place since mid-2021, did not accurately record the race and ethnicity of drivers for more than two years. In addition, OLEPS often did not follow up when State Police failed to adequately explain certain data trends that required further examination.
The comptroller "found OLEPS generally approached its role more as a collaborator, rather than an objective oversight entity with significant authority," the report stated.
Walsh has directed State Police and OLEPS to submit a corrective action plan within 90 days. In Tuesday's report, he called for a "reset" with the organizations to remedy the situation.
"Fifteen years ago, the state committed to using sophisticated data collection and analyses to ensure equitable treatment of all motorists. It’s clear that promise hasn’t been fully realized, and some key safeguards have broken down," Walsh said. "The attorney general’s release of the independent report last summer was an important first step in providing needed transparency, but more work needs to be done to make progress."
Marchan said State Police have exceeded requirements and satisfied all requests from the attorney general's office. The organization will continue to improve its data collection capabilities as information technology advances, he said.
"As the largest law enforcement agency in this state, we will continue serving the public and remain devoted to open dialogue and communication while ensuring our duties are carried out impartially," Marchan said.
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Platkin, in a statement Tuesday, called the findings in the comptroller's report "inexcusable and deeply troubling." He noted that his office had already identified many of the same issues and has begun taking action, including the appointment last year of a new OLEPS director, Kevin Lutz, who has "a proven track record in enhancing police accountability to benefit agencies and officers alike."
The attorney general also acknowledged a need for "unimpeded access" to police data, which his office is addressing by hiring a consultant to solve the problems with the record system. Moving forward, he aims to work together with State Police to continue to reduce issues of discrimination.
"It is not acceptable for a modern law enforcement agency to ignore the impact bias and implicit bias have on all professions — including law enforcement," Platkin said. "It is my hope that the NJSP will be a partner in addressing the deeply troubling concerns that my office has already raised with NJSP leadership."
