As reported by nj.com, unions representing Jersey City municipal employees have filed an appeal with the state Civil Service Commission, challenging some 100 layoffs the administration has carried out so far this year.

The city changed titles of politically-connected employees to avoid laying them off, kept temporary employees on staff for longer …

As reported by nj.com, people who intentionally kill police dogs or dogs involved in search and rescue operations are now facing stiffer penalties in New Jersey.

Governor Chris Christie recently signed legislation that mandates minimum five-year prison terms, with no chance of parole, for such offenders, who also will face fines of up …

As reported by mycentraljersey.com, New Jersey’s new pension reform will save state and local governments millions of dollars now and billions of dollars over the ensuing decades. But then there is the hard part: actually paying the pension contributions for nearly 800,000 state government employees and retirees. Although New Jersey will have to pay less …

As reported by nj.com, four years after a State Police union leader, David Jones, tangled with radio talk show host Craig Carton, the sizzle has long gone out of the feud. Yet, the labor dispute it spawned lives on.

Jones faced a five-day suspension for bringing personal information about Carton to a news conference …

As reported by nj.com, labor leaders in New Jersey, still licking their wounds after losing a fight over pension and health benefits in the Democratic Legislature last month, are being told a new anti-union bill does not stand a chance. 

The leader of the state Assembly told The Associated Press that New Jersey …

As reported by nj.com, Attorney General Paula Dow, flanked by county prosecutors and state officials, formally unveiled a group of reforms designed to eliminate the abuse of anabolic steroids in New Jersey’s law enforcement ranks.

The measures, recommended by a panel Dow formed in December, pave the way for police departments to randomly test officers for steroids, increase safeguards in taxpayer-funded prescription drug plans, and heighten scrutiny of physicans who improperly prescribe steroids and human growth hormone. The reforms follow a series of Star-ledger reports about the use of steroids in law enforcement. The newspaper found at least 248 officers and firefighters obtained the substances from an unscrupulous Jersey City physician, Joseph Colao. In most cases, they used their government benefits to pay for drugs that ran as much as $1,100 a month. Taxpayers picked up the bill, which amounted to millions of dollars. 

“The investigative series done by The Newark Star-Ledger highlighted the damage that can be done when a doctor’s actions go unchecked and individuals become aware of the opportunity to obtain medications they may not be entitled to,” Dow said at a press conference in Hamilton. “The cost is borne not just by taxpayers, but in the erosion of faith people have in those who protect and serve. This is unacceptable.”

Among the initiatives, state guidelines on drug-testing will be rewritten to explicitly authorize departments to randomly test their officers for steroids. The guidelines will also allow chiefs or prosecutors to test officers if they have a “reasonable suspicion” of steroid use or as a condition of fitness-for-duty evaluations.

Other measures include:

·         Any officer who tests positive will be required to provide a note from a physician confirming that the use of steroids or human growth hormone is for a legitimate medical condition and that the officer is fit for duty.

·         Departments are encouraged to require officers to self-report prescriptions for anabolic steroids and human growth hormone based on the authority to determine fitness for duty.

.     Dow will recommend prescriptions for steroids or growth hormone be filled largely by mail order through Medco, the state’s pharmacy benefits manager. The provision is meant to help Medco spot potential abuses.Continue Reading NJ Attorney General Unveils Reforms To Stop Steroid Abuse By Law Enforcement Officers

As reported by nj.com, two days after a tirade by Senate President Stephen Sweeney against Governor Chris Christie was published on the front page of The Star-Ledger, Sweeney refused to walk back his comments. “Could I have gone over the top with my language? Probably, I did,” said Sweeney. “But I don’t apologize for it. The governor …

As reported by nj.com, state law enforcement authorities are mounting a coordinated response to rising gang activity in cities and suburbs, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said. Gang violence in the state has become “more widespread, more violent and more sophisticated” in recent years, Fishman told about 400 law enforcement agents at the …

As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie signed into law controversial legislation that will force public employees to pay more for their pension and health insurance. Christie, who signed the bill flanked by a bipartisan cast of mayors, said passage of the bill is his biggest legislative victory since taking office.

“It is an …