Consistent with The Mayorâ€s Pledge per President Obama, Jersey City clarifies and amends JCPD General Orders

Mayor Steven M. Fulop and Public Safety Director James Shea announced today that the “Use of Force” General Order for the Jersey City Police Department will be amended where necessary and clarified where necessary to be consistent with best practices.

“I took the pledge last night when President Obama asked mayors to step up and we are starting on Day 1 with changes and clarification where needed” said Mayor Fulop.  “We have the best police department anywhere in the country and when it is possible to be even better, we will take steps to get there.”

Over the next few weeks the Mayor will work in conjunction with the City Council and the community to make sure that Jersey City remains a national leader with regards to policing policy.

Frequently Asked JCPD General Orders & Guidelines:

1)      Require De-Escalation

See JCPD G.O. 02-16BACKGROUND. In using force, the utmost restraint should be exercised.  The degree of force employed in any situation should be only that reasonably necessary.  Officers should exhaust all other reasonable means before resorting to the use of force.  (p.1) However, please see “The Use of Force Continuum” (p.3-4) The use of force continuum is similar to a progressive set of steps in which an officer would ideally take one step at a time.  However, the circumstances presented to an officer may dictate the skipping of any number of intermediate steps and immediately may necessitate jumping to a higher step in order to effectively and safely protect him/herself and./or others.  (p. 3-4)

The post Mayor Fulop Announces Changes to the Jersey City Police Department Use of Force General Orders first appeared on River View Observer.