TRENTON, N.J. — A new bill introduced in the New Jersey Senate would remove the Division of State Police from the Department of Law and Public Safety and establish a separate Department of State Police within the state’s executive branch.
Bill S4613, introduced Thursday by Senators James Beach, Michael Testa Jr., and Anthony Bucco, proposes restructuring the existing division into a principal department headed by the Superintendent of State Police. Under the bill, the superintendent would report directly to the governor rather than the attorney general.
Currently, the state police operate under the politically appointed Office of the Attorney General.
The legislation continues all existing State Police functions, powers, and duties but transfers them to the newly created department. It also makes the superintendent the State Director of Emergency Management, a position currently allocated within the Division of State Police.
Personnel decisions within the new department would no longer require the attorney general’s approval, granting full administrative authority to the superintendent.
“The organization of the existing Division of State Police is continued as the organization of the Department of State Police,” the bill states. “The approval of the Attorney General shall not be required.”
The proposed change repeals several provisions of the 1948 law that originally placed the State Police within the Department of Law and Public Safety. Co-sponsors of the bill include Senators Greenstein, Singer, Amato, and Tiver.
If passed, the measure would mark the first time in state history that the New Jersey State Police would operate independently as its own executive department.