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As reported by NJ.com, a bill before the State Legislature would require state authorities to identify police officers involved in fatal shootings and in-custody deaths within 48 hours of the incident.  The public notification requirement was added as an amendment to legislation that would put all fatal police shooting investigations under the State’s Attorney General, which was approved by the Senate Budget Committee by a 7-4 vote.

The measure calls for names of every officer present at the scene to be published online except in cases where the Attorney General find such a disclosure “will jeopardize the officer’s safety or the safety of the officer’s immediate family,” according to the proposed text.  The bill’s sponsors say the measure will improve public confidence in police shooting investigations by taking them out of the counties in which they occur. Currently, fatal shootings involving local police departments are investigated by county prosecutors, while deaths involving county or state agencies are investigated by a shooting response team at the State Division of Criminal Justice, which is part of the Attorney General’s office. State law also allows the Attorney General, the State’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer, to step in on any investigation where there may by a conflict of interest.

The proposed law would put all fatal shooting and in-custody death investigations under a special unit within the Attorney General’s office.  It was met with criticism by representatives of the New Jersey’s police unions, who called it an unnecessary intrusion.  Rob Nixon, a lobbyist with the New Jersey State PBA, said the bill “starts with an assumption that’s never been proven: that our county prosecutors are incapable of impartiality in seeking justice when police officers are involved in a shooting.”  Nixon also said requiring special prosecutors from the State Attorney General’s Office could undermine fatal shooting investigations by locking county authorities out of the process while they wait for a state investigator to arrive.

Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), one of the bill’s sponsors, said the measure was meant to eliminate the “perception” of conflicts of interest where county prosecutors are investigating police officers at agencies with whom they regularly work. “To me, it benefits everybody, including police officers,” said Rice, a former member of the Newark Police Department.

The proposed bill now goes before the full Senate for a vote.  As such, please continue to check this blog periodically for updates regarding the proposed bill given its potential impact on New Jersey Public Safety Officers.

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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.