N.J. Attorney General Backs Police Licensing in State

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said a state panel would recommend licensing police officers in the state, as authorities sought to respond to sprawling protests in the wake of the death of a black man in Minneapolis police custody.

Grewal said the state also would update its police use-of-force policy for the first time in 20 years and expand its database tracking those actions.

“To the thousands of New Jerseyans who assembled this week, let me be clear: We hear you, we see you. We respect you,” Grewal said at a new briefing Tuesday.

He said he was “still reeling” from the footage of George Floyd’s death, which showed a white police officer kneeling on the man’s neck for several minutes. “I’m angry that three officers watched and did nothing,” he added, and “disgraced their entire profession.”

Protests in recent days drew thousands of people to Newark, Asbury Park, Camden, Atlantic City, Trenton and elsewhere. Though the demonstrations were mostly peaceful, vandalism and looting took place in Atlantic City and Trenton, and multiple people were arrested in Asbury Park. The state has 36,000 state and local police officers, according to Grewal.

Police Solidarity

Governor Phil Murphy praised the New Jersey police officers who at times marched alongside peaceful anti-brutality demonstrators, with some law enforcement taking a knee in solidarity.

“There is a desire and a right to peacefully protest,” Murphy said. But he asked those at rallies to use social-distancing precautions.

The governor said he had worries “about people getting sloppy” and potentially dropping virus precautions as the state starts to reopen. “You’ve got human nature at play here, going on three months of staying home, staying away.”

New Jersey’s death toll from Covid-19 rose by 51 to 11,770 while the number of new cases increased by 708 to 161,545.

In all, 2,372 virus patients were in hospitals. Of 639 patients in intensive-care units, 459 were on ventilators, the fourth straight day that number was less than 500. Though 102 coronavirus patients were discharged over the prior 24 hours, 132 were admitted. Still, hospitalizations were down 87% since the April peak.

Reopening Economy

Murphy on Monday put the state in the second phase of a four-part reopening. Outdoor dining may resume on June 15, and hair salons and barbershops can open a week later. All service providers must adhere to coronavirus precautions, the governor warned, and if the state reports a significant uptick in cases, businesses may be closed again.

The state Assembly, meanwhile, has scheduled a Thursday vote to authorize $5 billion in short- and long-term borrowing, including via the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility.

Murphy has said such borrowing is necessary to help plug an expected $10.1 billion revenue hole through June 2021. The plan faces opposition from Senate President Steve Sweeney, who wants more details on paying back the money. The proposal almost certainly would face a legal challenge involving the state constitution’s borrowing limits.

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