Licensing New Jersey police officers sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? After all, no one wants a cop dropped by one department, town or agency for legitimate reasons (back to that in a moment) to resurface elsewhere.
Here’s the problem:
Some of the conduct that can result in license revocation or non-issuance isn’t necessarily legitimate, or at least not by the standards of your average American who isn’t a woke, far-Left nutcase who hates law enforcement.
To appreciate what I’m talking about, here’s a sample (from Governor Murphy’s press release coinciding with yesterday’s police licensure bill signing) of the behavior that can cause an officer to lose licensure:
“Conduct or behavior in the officer’s personal or professional life such as making statements, posting, sharing, or commenting in support of any posting, on social media, or otherwise, that demonstrates, espouses, advocates or supports discrimination or violence against, or hatred or bias toward individuals or groups based on race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other protected characteristic under the “Law Against Discrimination.”
[Emphasis added.]
Leftist groups took note of the above.
“We call on local and state governments to be proactive in identifying racist officers and racism within law enforcement, including training programs,” said the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) on Friday. “This is crucial to the protection of Black Americans and communities of color that these police officers serve.”
I’m sure you can see where this is going.
No, no one wants a police officer who attends KKK rallies or arrests someone simply because of the color of their skin. Duh.
But what happens when a police officer shares – for example – a SaveJersey.com post critical of teaching young New Jersey school children about transgenderism?
I can easily envision a scenario where a police officer loses his or her livelihood for sharing the wrong meme or story on Facebook notwithstanding the fact that the “share” in question is devoid of discriminator intent or sentiment. You don’t have to work too hard to imagine hypotheticals, by the way; just last spring, a Hopewell Township police officer was terminated for referring to BLM protesters as “terrorists.” Another officer was demoted for simply reacting to the post.
The job of a police officer isn’t getting any easier, and this new police licensing bill is all-but guaranteed to make it even less attractive to join what was once a highly-desired profession.
The true goal of the new law isn’t to target “bad cops.” Bad cops lose their jobs all the time. The goal here – as ever in Phil Murphy’s New Jersey – is to remake police culture into something the Left believes comports with its own warped values.
If I’m a New Jersey police officer? And I want to keep my job? I’m deleting my social media accounts immediately. The Left is coming for you, and this new licensing regime makes it easier than ever for them to succeed.
