The New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police is the state’s second-largest police union and this week it has announced it will not be endorsing a candidate for governor in 2021. The union announced it will not be making a choice between incumbent Democrat governor Phil Murphy and Republican candidate for Governor Jack Ciattarelli.
Murphy has come under fire from police officers statewide after his long embrace with Black Lives Matter and their movement to defund police. As governor, Murphy implemented a ‘bad cop’ database which made public the identities of police officers who committed infractions while on the job. When that list was released, most of the officers cited were listed for minor workplace policy violations.
With the Democrat Party’s anti-police and defund the police track record, Ciattarelli would seem the obvious endorsement for the union, but that’s not the case.
In the general assembly, the union endorsed 29 Democrats and 20 Republicans. In the Assembly, the union endorsed 15 Democrats and 9 Republicans.
The lack of endorsement is a blow for Ciattarelli who pushes a pro-police agenda. The union did not say why it did not endorse a candidate for governor.
Jerrell Harvey, spokesman for the Murphy campaign said his guy is committed to improving the public confidence in police.
“While the Assemblyman is concerned with portraying himself as a Trump-like ‘law and order candidate, Governor Murphy has taken decisive action to boost public confidence in policing and build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” Harvey said.
Shore News Network reached out to the Ciattarelli campaign for comment but did not receive a reply.