Tracking the number of fatal shootings by law enforcement officers in New Jersey remains difficult more than six years after the state attorney general’s office was given the responsibility for investigating all deaths involving police.
Under a law enacted in January 2019, the attorney general’s office is responsible for investigating all deaths that occur during interactions with police, including pursuits and in-custody deaths, as well as gunshot wounds. Investigations into these deaths regularly take years to resolve — it can take a year for the attorney general’s office just to release 911 transcripts and body camera video, for example. That 2019 law did not require any specific tracking mechanism, such as a database or annual report.
Few indictments
An NJ Spotlight News analysis of hundreds of press releases since the law took effect found that the officers involved in more than 100 incidents in which a person died or was shot and seriously wounded by police are rarely indicted by a grand jury. Just three cases resulted in indictments since Jan. 30, 2019, and one of those was later thrown out by a judge. According to press releases issued by the attorney general’s office, one Mantua officer was indicted for manslaughter after shooting the homeowner who had called 911 about burglars on his property and one New Jersey State Police detective was indicted for endangering another person after a motorcyclist the detective was following during a high-speed chase crashed into a car and was killed. The detective, who was off duty at the time, was in an unmarked State Police car.
So far this year, there have been three fatal shootings by police and one in which the person who was shot survived. The attorney general’s office is investigating two other deaths involving police — one was in a motor vehicle crash and the other was after a man was taken into custody. That’s down from five fatal shootings and 17 total police-related deaths under investigation around this time last year.
Deaths are only reported in the category ‘Reason Subject Not Arrested.’ But that does not provide a full count of fatalities.
The Use of Force Dashboard on the attorney general’s website now has almost five years’ worth of data summarizing all incidents in which law enforcement officers used some level of force against a civilian. Every time officers use arms or fists, a chokehold, a takedown, pepper spray, a taser or point or fire a weapon at a person, they must file a report. The reports include officers’ names and departments, the date of the incident, the type of force used, the reason for it and information about the person against whom the force was used, including the person’s age, gender and race or ethnicity. They must also file reports of force used against animals. Reports are to be filed in a timely manner, so this data is updated regularly throughout the year.
How deaths are reported — or not
Deaths are only reported in the category “Reason Subject Not Arrested.” But that does not provide a full count of fatalities. The dashboard, which only covers the period from Oct. 1, 2020, through July 31, lists 34 deaths. NJ Spotlight News’ analysis of the same period counted 41 people who died from gunshot wounds and more than 30 other deaths during pursuits or during other encounters with police. A police pursuit typically would not be considered a use of force and so would not have to be reported on the dashboard. A handful of deaths reported by the attorney general’s office are not listed in the Use of Force Dashboard.
At least a quarter of the incidents in which someone died after being shot by police involved a call for a welfare check or a person experiencing a mental health crisis, according to the data.
Recognizing the impact of mental health in police interactions with the public, the attorney general’s office in 2021 created a program called Arrive Together, which pairs mental health professionals with law enforcement on some emergency calls. The program was given $20 million in the current state budget.
In 2024, according to the [major discipline] dashboard, 102 officers were fired, 461 were suspended, nine were demoted and 87 resigned, retired or transferred while an investigation was pending.
According to a database the attorney general’s office has created to track interactions under this program, mental health professionals have been involved in more than 11,000 incidents investigated by police between December 2021 and Aug. 5, with 33 of these occurring in the first five days of this month. The state began requiring more detailed reports on Arrive Together interactions as of May 1, 2023, and has demographic and outcome data on more than 8,700 incidents since then. Unlike use-of-force data, the Arrive Together dashboard includes only anonymized information, so there is no way to track interactions by individual departments. The data is updated throughout the year as local agencies, which could include sheriff’s offices and for prison guards, submit reports.
Disciplinary information
Local law enforcement data is available in two other related dashboards the state maintains. One tracks major discipline — defined as a suspension of five days or more, demotion or termination — imposed on officers for violations of rules and the other tracks internal affairs investigations.
Last year, there were more than 16,000 active investigations of 8,800 officers. More than 11,800 investigations involving some 6,700 officers were closed, with about a third substantiated. Officials gave oral or written reprimands or notices in about 42% of cases, 15% resulted in suspensions without pay and 3% ended in an officer being fired.
The major discipline dashboard does include the name and rank of individual officers disciplined, as well as the type of discipline. It also shows overall numbers by law enforcement agency. Information is available for the years 2020 through 2024 and it is updated annually. In 2024, according to the dashboard, 102 officers were fired, 461 were suspended, nine were demoted and 87 resigned, retired or transferred while an investigation was pending.
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