by the Community Police Collaborative

Attention all South Orange Residents (old and new)! South Orange Village invites everyone to join them for their annual Newcomers Day on Sunday, October 3rd from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the Duck Pond in South Orange.  You will be able to meet your new and old neighbors, spend time speaking with the the Village’s municipal departments and elected officials and sign up to volunteer for some amazing organizations and/or committees (like the CPC!).  The Village encourages all residents to bring their families, their neighbors, or bring a friend!  For social distancing and spacing purposes, all organizations will be set up around the perimeter of the Duck Pond.

Date: Sunday, October 3, 2021

Time: 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Location:  The Skate House at Meadowland Park

Are you a Community Organization and/or Committee that would like to take part? Email the Community Relations Committee at crc@southorange.org

By the Community Police Collaborative

In the aftermath of the Hurricane Ida, which hit South Orange and surrounding communities on September 1st and 2nd, the South Orange Police Department has issued commendations to personnel who went above and beyond the call of duty to save lives and help our community members survive the storm. Attached is a copy of the Commendation by Acting Chief Stephen Dolinac which lists the officers and personnel, as well as a description of some of their heroic efforts. Captain Dolinac notes that he is “relieved, gratified, and exceedingly proud of the work done by the people of the South Orange Police Department” and describes some examples of SOPD officers “going above and beyond the call of duty and putting their own lives on the line”. In addition to situations where officers literally swam to save occupants of stranded cars and also carried people on their backs to safety, there were countless examples of efforts by all personnel during and after the storm to deal with the overwhelming number of emergency calls. The Community Police Collaborative would like to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude for the heroism and dedication of our police department to help get us through this event without loss of life or major injury to civilians. Thank you!!

By Donna Coallier, South Orange Village Trustee and CPC Liaison

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and the South Orange Community Care & Justice Initiative is hosting 2 workshops:

1) Thursday, 9/16 at 7pm: Anxiety Management for Everchanging Normalcy – for youth 13 to 18 years old (parental/guardian registration required). For more information or to register for this workshop, please EMAIL kamarafullerton@gmail.com or use the flyer below to SCAN the code in your smartphone.

2) Tuesday, 9/21 at 7:30p: Talk Saves Lives; A Brief Introduction to Suicide Prevention – for adults. For more information EMAIL kristinmillerlcsw@gmail.com. You can REGISTER at this link: https://tsl921.attendease.com/

For more information, please see the flyers below. Do you know local young people who are feeling overwhelmed? In the current environment, our youth in particular could use anxiety management tools to elevate their wellness journeys. To that end, next week on 9/16, CC&J is holding a wellness workshop for our youth, age 13 to 18 (parental/guardian registration required for those under 18), led by Ibn Sharif Shakoor, who uses hip hop and creative content in wellness programs.

Please see the details and registration links in the flyers below, and help spread the word! Thank you!

By Annemarie Maini, CPC Member

On Monday, July 25^th, South Orange Board of Trustees approved the purchase of Police Body Worn Cameras (BWC) using a grant from the New Jersey State Department of Law and Public Safety.  (Res #2021-220, Res #2021-217). The grant became available January 1, 2021 and South Orange received approval for the grant on June 28^th.  

These South Orange resolutions comply with the November 2020 legislation (S-1163) that mandated all police departments to procure and implement BWC systems, and also create policies to address the implementation and use (A-4312). This was a long time in coming for New Jersey.  After the unnecessary and tragic death of Eric Garner in December 2015 that was captured on video, there was significant popular interest in using BWC as a tool to curtail this type of loss of life.  It is likely this was discussed in social justice circles much earlier as evidenced by a 2013 ACLU policy statement on BWC.  According to the Washington Post tracking called “Fatal Force,” 76 people have been killed by police in New Jersey since January 1, 2015.

In 2015 the Former NJ Acting Attorney General Hoffman provided a directive to police departments to create policies for if and when they implemented BWC.  Police departments and municipalities made independent decisions to invest in these devices in response to their local public concern and the Attorney General was providing guidelines for their use (Directive 2015-1). In 2018 Former Attorney General Grewal’s initial directives included the public release of video of deadly force, (Directive 2018-1).  In Winter 2019 he started the Excellence in Policing Initiatives that included initiatives and policies to promote a culture of professionalism, accountability and transparency.  (One of the outcomes of that work was the standardization and centralization of use of force reporting across the state that the CPC has used in previous presentations/columns.)

In early fall 2020 Former Attorney General Grewal surveyed NJ police departments and found that 45% of police departments had implemented some BWC system that included 12,200 cameras (for a ratio of 1:3 cameras to police officers.)  Upon releasing the results of that survey (unfortunately the link for the original survey results does not work), Former AG Grewal “applauded those communities that had implemented body cameras.  The need for accountability and transparency has never been greater.”  

After a few months S-1163 was passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor mandating the use of BWC and A-4312 which regulates BWC use.  Upon signing the legislation in November, Governor Murphy pledged to find money to support municipalities in this important endeavor, and in December 2021 announced a grant program totaling $57.5 million to fund BWC systems.  That grant money became available January 1, 2021 and South Orange received the approval for the funding request on June 28, 2021 and resolved to spend it on July 25^th.  The total amount of the grant for South Orange was $95,786.

As requested by the South Orange Board of Trustees, the CPC reviewed the policy manual for the Surveillance Cameras, and submitted recommendations to the BOT. As of August 10th the CPC has not received any feedback on the status of the recommendations, and we assume there will be additional work on reviewing the policy manual for the use of BWC.  In the original regulations (A-4312) there was a clause that prohibited police officers from reviewing the video footage prior to writing their reports.  Some have argued that this limits the ability of the reports to be accurate.  Legislation has now passed and is sitting on the Governor’s desk that would allow Police Officers to review their BWC video prior to writing their report, unless it involved a deadly incident.  This current legislation would also allow witnesses the right to view the footage prior to making their statement.  It will be interesting to see if Governor Murphy signs this legislation and then whether local municipalities, like South Orange, can create a stricter policy.  For example, having officers and witnesses provide an original report from memory and then allowing the officer/witnesses to amend their reports after viewing the video for accuracy.

Link to Survey: https://shu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ehxgoE9G0FmPaxU

By Donna Coallier, South Orange Village Trustee and CPC Liaison

South Orange is partnering with Essex County and Seton Hall University to create and launch a social work pilot called the Community Care & Justice Program. The CC&J mission: to engage community members in designing and traveling their own wellness journeys, with a particular focus on protecting and elevating our most vulnerable and our youth. CC&J might include 911 Diversion, Restorative Practice Councils, Dialogue on How To Be An Anti-Racist, Community and First Responder Mental Health Awareness Training and more.

We have launched a survey to help identify CC&J priorities and we need your eyes and ears and input!

What values should drive our program? Where do you see a need for social work? How can we empower our community members to improve their mental health and wellness? How can we supplement Village law enforcement services to improve public safety in our community? Please help us to with these questions and more by completing the survey at the link below. And, thank you in advance for your commitment to CC&J.

Link to Survey: https://shu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ehxgoE9G0FmPaxU

By SO Police Dept. and CPC Outreach

At the June 14th Board of Trustees meeting the Village of South Orange made it official: Sally Reaves is now the first woman to be appointed to the rank of Sergeant. At Police Headquarters Acting Police Chief Stephen Dolinac praised Sergeant Reaves’ work with several of her family members and fellow officers looking on. “As a front-line supervisor Sergeant Reaves takes on a position of enormous responsibility,” he said. Village President Sheena Collum then administered the oath after the Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution appointing her. Collum expressed her excitement and hope, saying that Reaves was a “testament to the type of officer we are proud to have in our department.”

Reaves, who has had an 18-year career as an officer, came to the South Orange department from the Orange Police Dept. in 2007. In an interview with OutreachCPC Sgt. Reaves told us that she began her career in 2003, having worked in the healthcare field for 13 years. The medical field took a strong emotional toll, but she wanted to pursue a career in helping others, so she chose to switch to law enforcement: “It was the best decision I could have made.” She notes that it has been an honor and a pleasure serving South Orange and “I could not have chosen a better town to work for.” She sees the Township growing in so many ways with new businesses opening up and new apartment buildings. She commented that she loves the family feel and family homes that make up a large part of the South Orange community and hope that we never lose that “home feeling.”

In answer to a question about youth and careers in law enforcement, Sgt. Reaves was very enthusiastic, saying that she “absolutely” encourages young people, especially women, to consider a law enforcement career. “We’ve had a really tough time the last few years, but I see things getting better after the murder conviction in the George Floyd case. A lot of people  became discouraged about starting a career in law enforcement because of all negative things that were happening. Now with all the changes in the laws, I see people applying for police officers jobs again. The key is trust, people need to know that they can trust the law and they will be treated fairly.”

We finished our interview with Sgt. Reaves noting that she loves her job and that she would not trade it for anything in the world. “I’m here for the people and I hope I can make a difference in the community.”

To watch the swearing in ceremony conducted at the Police headquarters in conjunction with the South Orange Board of Trustees meeting, please feel free to check out the video on YouTube.

By Annemarie Maini, CPC Member

[Updated 11/4/2021]

The State of New Jersey, in an effort to improve transparency in law enforcement has launched the beta version of a website that will catalog every use of force by every police officer in the Garden State. The data, which state officials began collecting in October 2020, will allow members of the public to review the details of each incident.

The CPC has taken a first look at this new “Use of Force” database and the results are in the first attached document, which can be downloaded by the public.

A follow-up policy review was presented at the July 8, 2021 monthly meeting of the South Orange CPC. The supplemental review is attached in an additional document below.

In addition, most recently another policy review was presented at the September 8, 2021 monthly meeting of the CPC. that review is attached below. Following that review, the presentation was updated in November for the rolling year, October 2020 through September 2021, and that update is presented below as well.