New Jersey bill would require private police training companies to get state approval for curriculum
Private police training companies in New Jersey could soon require approval from the state.
Right now, a private company can train cops, and even collect taxpayer money to do so, without any state approval of their lesson plans or instructors.
Controversial police training conference sparks legislation
New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill that would require private police training companies to get approval from the state's Police Training Commission, an arm of Attorney General Matt Platkin's office, every year.
"There's no approval process for curriculum, what police officers should be taught and trained, and so it's the Wild West out there," said Sen. Paul Moriarty, who is sponsoring the bill.
It would also ban police from attending training not approved by the commission. A public safety committee advanced the Assembly version, but it has not come to a full vote yet in either chamber.
Lawmakers drafted the bill in response to an audit of a training company called Street Cop and their 2021 conference attended by more than 200 New Jersey police officers.
The New Jersey State Comptroller's Office said the Atlantic City conference was "lewd," "disparaging," "glorifying violence" and taught unconstitutional police tactics.
Street Cop founder Dennis Benigno apologized for the language used and denied Street Cop ever taught unconstitutional policing.
A separate CBS News New York investigation then found Benigno was disciplined three times back when he was a police officer in Woodbridge, including a 10-day suspension for allegedly using a racial slur, which he denied during an internal affairs interview.
"If my bill had been law then, some of the instructors that had had previous problems in the past that were easily identifiable probably would not have been approved to even be a police trainer," Moriarty said.
Benigno responded to our first interview request for this story with a 460-word email stating the bill is "based on a completely biased report that pointed out a few minutes of jokes ... in a room full of adults none of which who complained." He went on to write "tens of thousands of police officers have regarded our training to be the best that has ever existed" and suggested the comptroller's investigation was politically motivated.
We responded to Benigno's email asking again for an interview, and he suggested we talk live on his podcast because he feels that would be the most neutral arena. Our investigative unit has never conducted interviews live on someone else's podcast, and we're not going to make an exception for this story.
More regulation would offer "more credibility," private trainer says
New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police President John Russo says the audit does show a need for oversight, although he'd like to see exemptions in the current bill.
"We would basically just like to see a carve-out for certain nonprofits like the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police," Russo said. "We've been providing training throughout the state, like I said, for decades."
Allen Bloodgood used to work at the Woodbridge Police Department and now offers private training.
"Right now, anybody can get a LLC and start training law enforcement officers. There's nothing preventing anybody from doing that right now," he said.
The new legislation would mean more regulation for Bloodgood, but he welcomes the idea.
"Honestly, I think it gives me more credibility. It does because I'm proud of what I do. I'm confident in what I do. I don't teach anything that is controversial. I don't teach anything that is, even could be even remotely illegal," he said.
According to Bloodgood, other states already have systems in place that require approval of either the instructor or the lesson.
He says without those systems, "You can have everything from unconstitutional policing, bad searches, bad use-of-force incidents."
Bloodgood worked at the Woodbridge Police Department at the same time as Benigno, but he offered no comment on Benigno or Street Cop.
