New Jersey police officers subject to random drug testing

Every police officer in the US state of New Jersey will now have to submit to random drug tests, according to a directive issued by Gurbir Grewal, the state’s Attorney General.

Grewal also issued a second directive, which requires all police departments to install ‘early warning systems’ that would be triggered by problematic behaviour, including accusations of misconduct, drink-driving, domestic abuse and lawsuits.

He said that most police departments had already implemented these policies but that his new directives would make them mandatory throughout the state.

“We support our officers in their difficult jobs, and at times that means intervening with a troubled officer to protect the public, the individual officer, and his or her fellow officers,” said Grewal.

The drug-testing directive mandates that all state, county, and local police departments administer one random drug test to each police officer in 2018 and conduct two tests per year beginning in 2019.

Each police department is required to disclose to the appropriate county prosecutor any failed drug tests, officers who decline to take a test, and any disciplinary actions resulting from failed tests.

The early warning directive lists 15 ‘performance indicators’ that would mark a police officer for review if any three indicators occur in a single year.

Last month, the attorney general also unveiled another new directive that makes it easier for the public to view videos of any police encounters that result in a death, but police departments will still have the right to deny public access in certain cases.