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A1049
ASSEMBLY, No. 1049
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Barlas
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes "Cop 2 Cop Sustainability Fund"
to support "Law Enforcement Officer Crisis Intervention Services" Cop
2 Cop telephone hotline program; appropriates $500,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
establishing the �Cop 2 Cop Sustainability Fund,�
amending P.L.2008, c.29, and making an appropriation.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
�����
1.�� Section
115 of P.L.2008, c.29 (C.26:2NN-1) is amended to read as follows:
���� 115.� a.� The Department of
Human Services shall maintain a toll-free information "Law Enforcement
Officer Crisis Intervention Services" telephone hotline on a 24-hour
basis.
���� The hotline shall receive and
respond to calls from law enforcement officers and sheriff's officers who have
been involved in any event or incident which has produced personal or
job-related depression, anxiety, stress, or other psychological or emotional
tension, trauma, or disorder for the officer and officers who have been wounded
in the line of duty.� The operators of the hotline shall seek to identify those
officers who should be referred to further debriefing and counseling services,
and to provide such referrals. In the case of wounded officers, those services
may include peer counseling, diffusing, debriefing, group therapy, and
individual therapy as part of a coordinated assistance program, to be known as
the "Blue Heart Law Enforcement Assistance Program," designed and
implemented by the University Behavioral Healthcare Unit of Rutgers, The State
University.
���� b.��� The operators of the
hotline shall be trained by the Department of Human Services and, to the
greatest extent possible, shall be persons, who by experience or education,
are: (1) familiar with post trauma disorders and the emotional and
psychological tensions, depressions, and anxieties unique to law enforcement
officers and sheriff's officers; or (2) trained to provide counseling services
involving marriage and family life, substance abuse, personal stress
management, and other emotional or psychological disorders or conditions which
may be likely to adversely affect the personal and professional well-being of a
law enforcement officer and a sheriff's officer.
���� c.��� To ensure the integrity
of the telephone hotline and to encourage officers to utilize it, the
commissioner shall provide for the confidentiality of the names of the officers
calling, the information discussed by that officer and the operator, and any
referrals for further debriefing or counseling; provided, however, the
commissioner may, by rule and regulation, (1) establish guidelines providing
for the tracking of any officer who exhibits a severe emotional or
psychological disorder or condition which the operator handling the call
reasonably believes might result in harm to the officer or others and (2)
establish a confidential registry of wounded New Jersey law enforcement
officers.
����
d.��� There is created in
the Department of the Treasury a dedicated, non-lapsing fund to be known as the
�Cop 2 Cop Sustainability Fund.�
����
Commencing in State fiscal
year 2025 there shall be annually appropriated from the General Fund to the Cop
2 Cop Sustainability Fund, $500,000 to support the "Law Enforcement
Officer Crisis Intervention Services" Cop 2 Cop telephone hotline
program.� In addition to moneys appropriated from the Cop 2 Cop Sustainability
Fund, revenues annually provided to the �Law Enforcement Officer Crisis
Intervention Services" pursuant to subsection d. of R.S.39:5-41, and any
interest and other income earned on moneys
therefrom, and any other
moneys that may be appropriated or otherwise become available for purposes of
the fund, shall be credited to and deposited in the Cop 2 Cop Sustainability
Fund
.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.45, s.117)
����� 2.�� (New
Section) There is appropriated from the General Fund $500,000 to support the
�Law Enforcement Officer Crisis Intervention Services" Cop 2 Cop telephone
hotline program.
���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
����� This bill establishes the �Cop 2 Cop Sustainability
Fund� and appropriates an additional $500,000 from the General Fund to this
fund to support the �Law Enforcement Officer Crisis Intervention Services� Cop
2 Cop telephone hotline program in the current fiscal year and ongoing.
����� The �Law Enforcement Officer Crisis Intervention
Services� Cop 2 Cop telephone hotline program is a 24-hour confidential peer
support hotline and service for law enforcement personnel and their families.�
This program is currently operated at Rutgers University Behavioral Health
Care�s National Call Center.� The Cop 2 Cop telephone hotline program currently
receives up to $400,000 annually from Body Armor Replacement Funds pursuant to
R.S.39:5-41.� This bill would dedicate an additional $500,000 to the �Cop 2 Cop
Sustainability Fund� to support the Cop 2 Cop telephone hotline program.