As reported by NJ.com, the Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local Number 105 (“P.B.A. #105”), the union representing rank-and-file Correctional Police Officers employed by the New Jersey Department of Corrections, among various other State employees, and the largest law enforcement union in the State of New Jersey, is demanding widespread and free testing of both its members and inmates alike at all New Jersey prisons in the wake of yet another unfortunate death of a Correctional Police Officer due to COVID-19. Of critical importance, P.B.A. #105’s demand for testing is being made whether the members, workers, or inmates are symptomatic or not.

Currently, the New Jersey Department of Corrections reports that 460 workers in the State prison system have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Moreover, 24 State Prison inmates, in all, have died so far from COVID-19 and 9 at residential community release programs have tested positive.  To put this into perspective, these totals amount to approximately one out of every ten officers have tested positive for the virus.  This is ten times greater than the positive results that have been reported within the State of New Jersey.  Currently, state employees who are not symptomatic are paying $52.00 each for COVID-19 testing according to William Sullivan, President of P.B.A. #105.

“We’re giving it to each other,” President Sullivan said of the virus. “Officers walk along 3 or 4-foot wide corridors up and down a tier with 90 inmates in cells with open bars breathing on them and each other.”  In other words, social distancing measures are impossible to maintain within a correctional facility, thereby contributing to the potential exposure and spread of COVID-19 within such facilities.

The untimely and unfortunate passing of another officer is another sad reminder of the dangers New Jersey Public Safety Officers are facing on a daily basis as a result of this deadly pandemic. As such, P.B.A. #105’s demand for widespread and free testing for officers, workers, and inmates alike, symptomatic or not, is yet another measure that must be undertaken to safeguard the lives of officers, their families, loved ones, and the public at large. It is a common sense approach that should be utilized not only on the State level, but on the County level as well. In conjunction with providing officers with proper personal protection equipment and non-congregate housing, all avenues to limit COVID-19 exposure must be utilized for those on the frontlines.

Please continue to check this blog periodically to ascertain important updates regarding all issues affecting New Jersey Public Safety Officers.  We continue to thank you for your dedicated and noble service during these unprecedented times.  Stay safe.

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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.