The NJ Police Chief Magazine Volume 25, Number 1 | Page 4

The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | January 2019
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
CHIEF RICHARD J. BUZBY, JR.
LITTLE EGG HARBOR PD
I hope that your holidays were everything you had hoped they would be and that your
New Year is as well. You are all aware that the last six months, in particular, have been
extraordinarily challenging for us as an organization. We have continued to face an unfair
invective against our profession as well as, more recently, skewed data that would put us
in an unfortunate position if not effectively challenged. We very much appreciate that
Attorney General Grewal chose to respond in the appropriate way that he did, in that a
unified response by most of the law enforcement organizations at interest had a
collaborative role. All of that went not so badly but, as I said at the last meeting, it did
distract us from our agenda and it is time that we get back on message with several
important items and areas. Some are as follows:
1) Lessons from the field have taught us that certain less lethal devices did not always have the effect that some of
us have anticipated. What I mean by that is that the subject is not always immediately immobilized and temporarily
incapacitated. What has been observed is perhaps more important, however, is that in several situations the course
of events was immediately interrupted and that we believe lives were saved as a result. Sometimes reactions like
this can provide that vital "break in the action" in which hangs the need to employ lethal force, or not. General
Grewal, once again, has also been cognizant of these developments and has had the foresight to collaborate with us
in examining this development as well as to direct that we consider other promising technologies such as the "lasso"
devices that also appear promising. See letter on the following page.
2) Chiefs in civil service departments also continue to face legitimate questions as to the lack of diversification in
their departments. This has, unfortunately and often, been an obstacle to those who truly want to develop and to
maintain those relationships in all of his/her communities that are critical to their success and current hiring require-
ments are so limited as to prevent aggressive recruiting to that end. We have proposed that the "pilot program" that
NJCSC has permitted in some jurisdictions be available in all civil service jurisdictions. Under that program, certified
class two special officers (SLEO2) who have performed satisfactorily for a certain period can be promoted to patrol-
man without further testing. We have also asked that alternate route academy graduates, who can only presently be
appointed as full time officers, can also be appointed as SLEO2s. We believe that both of those measures will serve
to give all promising young people greater opportunity, certainly among those veterans and people of color. See
letters on pages 6 through 9.
3) Tragedies such as issues and losses from PTSD continue to proliferate among police ranks in this country. On our
part, we have been keenly aware for some time that more must be done to support our officers. We have been
active in the search for solutions like the resiliency program currently being piloted in Burlington County. We are
happy to report that this program (and concept) continues to grow and is experiencing greater acceptance across
our State. Additional trainings have been (and are being) scheduled and the program is being rolled out in a number
of agencies. Along those lines John Cunningham from the NJPTC recently provided an example of a similar, and
successful, program from the state of Georgia. Link is also attached below for reference.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_watch-3Fv-3DtnI9KW87l5c-26t-
3D74s&d=DwMFaQ&c=4BTEw-1msHjOY4ITcFLmDM6JB8x6ZgbU2J24IH0HZLU&r=34jRv9ae6EZS7-
EEQbLlVaG0mA2joUXLILe58QVejes&m=lOlduRgDmKA5plaYVcDHDe-
WPYEVyatZrCkd5NrV8ag&s=l44ii0o7ZOO71vaqFR_r0lOTP0Ey_dd1Q4GcwUlzezo&e=
Sincerely and fraternally,
Chief Richard J. Buzby, Jr.
NJSACOP President
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