Upon learning that officers stopped more black motorists than white drivers between 2009 and 2021, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office put the State Police under investigation. Their apparent solution – to make fewer traffic stops – is of particular concern.
"If you make a stop, you're going to get in trouble. If you don't make the stop, you're not going to get in trouble," Lieutenant Randy Sutton (Ret.) relays.
But he says their thinking that "you can't get in trouble for the stops you don't make" was flawed because when the troopers stopped enforcing traffic laws, there was an 18% increase in accidents, including fatal wrecks.
New Jersey state troopers are now facing a special council investigation into that.
"The New Jersey governor, the attorney general have basically declared war on the cops for actually doing their jobs," says Sutton. "They're going to be punished for the results of actions taken by the leadership of the state of New Jersey."
He, unfortunately, would expect no less from a state on the "defund the police" bandwagon.
"The government there [has] waged war against New Jersey state police for 20 years," the retired officer laments.
Attorney General Matt Platkin ordered the investigation, but to avoid any conflict of interest, former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has been hired to lead the investigation. The Obama-era prosecutor says he will conduct a fair investigation with a thorough accounting of the facts.
