As reported by nj.com, when the New Jersey State Police’s first class of recruits in two years reports for training today, only five of 123 will be black, a striking failure in the division’s decade long effort to achieve greater diversity. Now, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (“NAACP”), which settled discrimination claims with the State Police in 2000 to force greater minority recruitment, says it will return to court to argue the state has given only lip service to the problem.

The NAACP’s vow of legal action reignites a contentious debate about why the State Police struggles to enlist new black troopers. While minorities like Hispanics have gained ground in the past 11 years, the percentage of black troopers has fallen from 8 percent to 6.4 percent, state figures show. With more than one-third of black troopers nearing retirement, their ranks are expected to thin to levels not seen since the division was under federal oversight for discriminatory hiring decades ago.

The new State Police class, selected more than a year ago, is more diverse than the current 2,768 troopers. It is 72.4 percent white, 17.9 percent Hispanic, 4.9 percent Asian, 4.1 percent African-American and 0.8 percent Native American. It’s 88 percent male and 12 percent female. But the class is still less diverse than the state, which is 68.6 percent white and 13.7 percent black.

The State Police has faced scrutiny on hiring minorities for decades. Before the NAACP lawsuit, the division was under watch by the U.S. Department of Justice from 1975 to 1992. Minorities now make up 17 percent of the force. 

The NAACP says the state is not trying hard enough. The Attorney General’s Office says the African-American community is not referring enough qualified recruits. The troopers union says the company that scores the written tests for recruits uses a secretive system that may exclude good black candidates. ‘We’re not getting enough African-Americans and we’re not getting the best candidates,” State Troopers Fraternal Association President David Jones said. “The system is a complete farce because it’s not fair to anyone.”

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DONALD C. BARBATI, JR.

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault.  In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.