Requires DLPS to establish and make available to law enforcement agencies training materials concerning interactions with hearing impaired; requires annual training for law enforcement and contracting with qualified interpreters.

A1957

ASSEMBLY, No. 1957

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO

District 20 (Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires DLPS to establish and make available to law
enforcement agencies training materials concerning interactions with hearing
impaired; requires annual training for law enforcement and contracting with
qualified interpreters.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning law enforcement practices and supplementing
Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.�� The Department of
Law and Public Safety shall develop or identify training course materials and
an online tutorial regarding appropriate recognition and response techniques
concerning the interaction of law enforcement officers with the hearing
impaired, including, but not limited to, a hearing impaired person�s right to
the assistance of a qualified interpreter pursuant to P.L.1983, c.564
(C.34:1-69.7 et seq.).

���� b.��� The Department of Law
and Public Safety shall cause the training course materials and online tutorial
developed or identified pursuant to subsection a. of this section to be made
available to every State, county, and municipal law enforcement department in
the State and to each campus police department at an institution of higher
education in the State that appoints police officers pursuant to P.L.1970,
c.211 (C.18A:6-4.2 et seq.) for use in providing officer training.

���� c.��� The Department of Law
and Public Safety shall periodically assess the training course materials and
online tutorial developed or identified pursuant to subsection a. of this
section and update them where the department finds appropriate.

���� d.��� Every State, county, and
municipal law enforcement department in the State and every campus police
department at an institution of higher education in the State that appoints
police officers pursuant to P.L.1970, c.211 (C.18A:6-4.2 et seq.) shall provide
annual in-service training of its personnel utilizing the training course
materials or online tutorial developed or identified by the Department of Law
and Public Safety pursuant to subsection a. of this section.�

���� e.��� Every State, county, and
municipal law enforcement department in the State and every campus police
department at an institution of higher education in the State that appoints
police officers pursuant to P.L.1970, c.211 (C.18A:6-4.2 et seq.) shall
contract with an agency that is capable of providing a qualified interpreter
within two hours of a request.

���� As used in this act:

���� �Hearing impaired person�
shall have the same meaning as in section 2 of P.L.1983, c.564 (C.34:1-69.8).

���� �Qualified interpreter� shall
have the same meaning as in section 2 of P.L.1983, c.564 (C.34:1-69.8).

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the seventh month following enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the
Department of Law and Public Safety (DLPS) to develop or identify training
course materials and an online tutorial regarding appropriate recognition and
response techniques concerning the interaction of law enforcement officers with
the hearing impaired.� The training is required to include information
regarding when a hearing impaired person has the right to request the
assistance of a qualified interpreter.� Under the bill, the DLPS is required to
make the training materials and online tutorial available to every State,
county, and municipal law enforcement department and at every institution of
higher education in the State that appoints police officers.�

���� This bill also requires every
State, county, and municipal law enforcement department and every institution
of higher education in the State that appoints police officers to provide
annual in-service training according to the training protocols established by
the DLPS and to contract with an agency that is capable of providing a
qualified interpreter within two hours of a request.�

���� The bill defines a �hearing
impaired person� as a person whose hearing is impaired so as to prohibit the
person from understanding oral communication and further includes a person who,
because of loss of hearing, cannot communicate spoken language.� In addition,
the bill defines a �qualified interpreter� as an interpreter certified by the
National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. and listed by the State
Division of the Deaf in the Department of Labor or the New Jersey Registry of
Interpreters for the Deaf.�