New Jersey State Police

The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors.

The legislation for the creation of the NJSP was first introduced in 1914, but it would not be until March 29, 1921, with the passing of the State Police Bill, that a statewide police force was created. Senator Clarence I. Case was the driving force behind the 1921 legislation.

The person with the most impact on the organization was its first Superintendent Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr. He was a graduate of West Point and this training and his time in the military heavily influenced how he organized and trained his first group of troopers. "Honor, Duty, Fidelity", adapted from the West Point motto "Duty, Honor, Country", is the motto of the NJSP. The triangular state police logo and hat badge represents this motto. The badge was created by New York jeweler Julius George Schwarzkopf, the father of founder Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf. The NJSP logo includes the year 1921, date of founding, in place of a badge number.

The first State Police class reported for training on September 1, 1921 and consisted of 116 men out of an applicant group of 600. Training took place in Sea Girt, New Jersey on the same grounds as the current State Police Academy. Out of the 116 men who started training only 81 officers and troopers completed the three-month training program. According to the New Jersey State Police website:

"On December 1, 1921, the new troopers were administered the oath of office and on December 5, 1921, in a blinding snowstorm, started out on horseback and motorcycle to their posts throughout the state."

In the late 1990s, both the Maryland and New Jersey State Police agencies were subject to allegations of racial profiling which claimed that black motorists were being pulled over disproportionately on the New Jersey Turnpike and on Interstate 95. A nationwide controversy erupted, which ultimately resulted in a federal monitor watching over the New Jersey State Police. In a consent decree, the New Jersey State Police agreed to adopt a new policy that no individual may be detained based on race, unless said individual matches the description of a specific suspect. The consent decree was dissolved on September 21, 2009.

On April 23, 1998, Troopers James Kenna and John Hogan opened fire on a van they stopped for speeding on the New Jersey Turnpike. The four passengers in the van were unarmed. The troopers said they fired, wounding three of the four minority men inside, when the van lurched back toward them. This also started the investigation of possible racial profiling within law enforcement in New Jersey.

On December 1, 2003, Trooper Justin Hopson filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Camden. Hopson alleged in his complaint that he was hazed and harassed by a group of fellow state troopers known as the "Lords of Discipline." The hazing occurred when Hopson, with only eleven days on the force at the time, refused to falsify the facts underlying an illegal arrest of a citizen. The complaint alleges that after Hopson refused to support the arrest, he was physically assaulted, received threatening notes, and his car was vandalized while on duty. Over the years, several troopers have come forward about the Lords of Discipline. The secret group allegedly drove nails into colleagues' tires, damaged lockers, and wore Lords of Discipline inscribed T-shirts. The NJ Attorney General's Office conducted a two-year investigation into the group where seven troopers were suspended or reprimanded but the probe found "no organized group of troopers known as the Lords of Discipline." On October 1, 2007, the State of New Jersey agreed to a $400,000 settlement with Justin Hopson. A spokesman for the attorney general called the Hopson settlement "fair and reasonable."