Mayor Fulop Announces Citywide De-escalation Training for all Jersey City Police Officers
Tactical and Communication Techniques to ensure more Positive Outcomes from Stressful and Challenging Police Encounters
JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop and Public Safety Director James Shea announce the implementation of de-escalation training for all police officers on the Jersey City Police Department as the Administration’s latest investment in enhancing policing policies and procedures to better manage crisis encounters for the betterment and safety of our residents as well as our officers and those they encounter in oftentimes stressful and challenging situations. The program will retrain officers to confidently and competently make the best decisions to ensure more positive outcomes when placed in a life-endangering situation.
The million-dollar investment will repurpose funds recently refunded to the city for COVID-19 testing to expand tactical awareness and communications training currently implemented in the JCPD’s Emergency Service and Counterterrorism Units, and will now be mandatory for all uniform members of the department to ensure maximum safety for officers and those they encounter in various demanding situations. The de-escalation training will also be made available to residents and all others interested in observing the techniques being taught.
“Consistent with the Mayor’s Pledge I signed Day 1, we are making changes where necessary, from amending our Use of Force general orders to forming an ad-hoc review committee to now expanding de-escalation training. We are committed to providing our officers with the best possible training, and the expansion of this training to all officers will greatly benefit the community and meet the growing need for officers to hone their crisis management skills to proactively avoid dangerous situations in the future,” said Mayor Fulop. “We will continue to invest in our police department strategically to remain a national leader with regards to policing policy.”
The dual-pronged, de-escalation training program will apply two separate disciplines over the next 8 months. The first, Verbal De-escalation and Crisis Communication Program is taught by retired NYPD officer, Jack Cambria, who has conducted in-service training for international and federal enforcement agencies and will emulate best practices from cities around the world. The second, conducted by Tomahawk Strategic Solutions, utilizes interactive training to focus on strategies and approaches for police officers addressing hostile situations.
“We have a debt to our officers if we’re asking them to police in these difficult times, we owe them the best possible training we can provide,” said Director Shea. “Residents have requested this type of training out of regards to the public, and for the officers themselves. We have listened to their requests in an effort to further de-escalation efforts for all situations the JCPD encounters on a daily basis.”
The implementation of de-escalation training will further the Administration’s recent efforts to reassess the JCPD’s policies. Council President Joyce Watterman recently worked with Mayor Fulop to form an ad-hoc committee and provide next steps on police reform.
“Now is the time for us to focus on what we’re doing here in Jersey City and how we can make changes and improvements within our policies for everyone’s benefit,” said Council President Joyce Watterman.
The training will also focus on the historical experiences with policing to address working on self-awareness and approach of officers’ state of mind to ensure they have the training to utilize all tactics available to make the best decisions and avoid de-escalation when safe and feasible, the use of force being a last resort even when lawful. The courses will be implemented on a regular basis once the first round of training is completed by all officers from rookies up to the Police Chief.
The resolution to approve the vendor contract for de-escalation and other similar training will be presented to the City Council at an upcoming meeting.
