New Jersey -
A long awaited bill was finally signed into law this week, and it should
give New Jersey's laid off law officers something to be thankful for as
we head into the new year.
The Police Training
Act under C.52:17B-68 is where New Jersey established the Police
Training Commission and where the training requirements are set forth.
Until now, a full academy certification, sometimes referred to as a
Class A certification, was good for a period of three years. This
new law extends the length of a certification from three years to five
years.
This change will
greatly benefit officers who have been laid off during the recent
economic downturn. Previously, if an officer had been laid off and
was out of law enforcement for more than three years, he or she would
have had to repeat the police academy.
Now, the
certification was last for two additional years.
, became a law this
week, and the
Washington, DC – The
names of 316 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty
— 152 of them in 2010 — were formally dedicated on the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Friday evening in Washington, DC.
U.S. Attorney General
Eric H. Holder Jr. led the lighting of candles and reading of the fallen
officers’ names during the 23rd annual Candlelight Vigil, held at the
Memorial grounds. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and
Linda Moon-Gregory, national president of the Concerns of Police
Survivors (C.O.P.S.), also participated in the annual tribute to
officers who have died in the line of duty, a special part of the
National Police Week observance in the nation’s capital.
The 152 officers who
died in 2010 represent an increase of almost 25% over the number of
officers who died in the line of duty in 2009. In addition, 164 officers
who died in previous years, but whose deaths had been lost to history,
were added to the Memorial this year. The monument in Judiciary Square
now contains the names of 19,298 fallen law enforcement officers — from
all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and federal
law enforcement and military police agencies — who have died in the
performance of duty throughout U.S. history.
“The safety of our
communities and the freedoms we enjoy as a nation have always come at a
price,” said Craig W. Floyd, Chairman and CEO of the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which maintains the Memorial and is
one of the leading organizers of National Police Week each May. “In
2010, the price paid by our heroic and dedicated law enforcement
officers was especially high, and the loss felt by their loved ones and
colleagues was heavy. These heroes died providing for our safety and
protection, and their service and sacrifice will always be remembered on
the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial,” he said.
Between 2009 and
2010, law enforcement fatalities increased by 25 percent, a discouraging
development driven by a 20 percent increase in the number of officers
killed in gunfire incidents. Still, for the 13th year in a row,
traffic-related fatalities were the leading cause of officer fatalities
with 71 officers killed in the line of duty.
The number of
officers shot and killed rose last year, from 49 in 2009 to 59 in 2010.
The 2010 total included 10 officers who were gunned down in five
multiple-fatality shooting incidents in Fresno (CA), San Juan (PR),
Tampa (FL), West Memphis (AR) and Hoonah (AK).
Thirty-eight states
and Puerto Rico experienced officer fatalities in 2010. Texas had the
most officer deaths, with 16, followed by California with 11. Florida,
Georgia and Illinois each had nine fatalities. Nine federal law
enforcement officers also died in 2010, including three from the U.S.
Border and Customs Protection and two agents from the U.S. Border
Patrol.
Dedicated in 1991,
the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial commemorates the service
and sacrifice of America’s law enforcement officers. Each May 13, as
part of National Police Week, the newly engraved names of officers
killed in the line of duty are read aloud and formally dedicated on the
National Memorial during the Candlelight Vigil. An estimated 20,000
people attend the ceremony in person each year, including surviving
family members, friends, law enforcement colleagues and others, and
thousands more participate via a live webcast of the ceremony provided
through a partnership between the Memorial Fund and Officer.com.
