Obama-era prosecutor’s probe into blue state police racial bias claims called ‘untenable’ for troopers

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New Jersey State Police were facing accusations of racial profiling before a report revealed a sharp decline in traffic stops that coincided with a rise in crashes, some of them fatal.

Now they’re facing a special counsel investigation from the state attorney general’s office, leaving troopers in a difficult position as they try to protect the public as well as their own careers amid intense scrutiny that advocates see as anti-police. 

“If you enforce traffic laws, crashes go down. If you do not enforce them, crashes go up,” said Betsy Brantner Smith, spokesperson for the National Police Association who spent three decades on the job. “Accidents are largely created by a disparity in speed, and unless we want to admit that, then we’re going to fix it.”

State troopers were accused of profiling minority drivers in a report from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability that looked at stops between 2009 and 2021. Then they were told by union leaders that every stop they made would go under the microscope, according to a New York Times report. For months, they made fewer stops than normal. 

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New Jersey State Police conduct a roadside operation in an undated photo shared on the department’s X account. (New Jersey State Police/X)

A subsequent drop in traffic stops coincided with an 18% increase in crashes, some of which took lives, according to the paper, citing public records. The union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The American public is going to have to decide, what do you want? Do you want cops to enforce the law, or do you want somebody here to adhere to some sort of manufactured or false or politically correct policy when it comes to enforcing the law?” Brantner Smith said. “It is a very untenable situation for the troopers, and frankly, it’s an untenable situation for the citizens.”

Days after the Times report, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced an investigation into how the matter “was orchestrated” and vowed accountability.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin speaks during a press conference at the Justice Department on March 21, 2024. Last month, Platkin tapped Preet Bharara, the Obama-era U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to lead a special counsel probe into allegations of misconduct against the New Jersey State Police. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“I am deeply disappointed that this well-deserved reputation for serving the public good has been tainted by the alleged and unprecedented slowdown in State Police traffic enforcement from approximately July 2023 to March 2024,” Platkin said in a statement announcing the special counsel probe. “I am particularly concerned that this slowdown may have coincided with increased crashes and fatalities on our roadways.”

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He appointed Preet Bharara, the Obama-era U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former lawyer for Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer, as special counsel overseeing the probe.

A New Jersey State Police vehicle (Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

Bharara, in a statement, said he was “deeply honored” by the appointment and pledged to “conduct a fair and rigorous investigation.”

Platkin said the investigation would not interfere with cooperation between his office and state police, agencies that are often required to work together to fulfill their purpose. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Preet Bharara, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, has been appointed to lead a special investigation into New Jersey state troopers. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

The state report, which analyzed traffic stops between 2009 and 2021, accused troopers of “enforcement practices that result in adverse treatment towards minority motorists.”

Branter Smith, however, downplayed concerns of profiling leading to the stops. More than 60% of the people pulled over were White drivers. Just under 19% were Black and around 13.5% were Hispanic. 

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New Jersey State Police troopers stand guard in front of MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Jan. 1, 2020. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)

“Even during the day, when you’re sitting in traffic or you’re driving down the freeway, can you see the race of the person in front of you unless you pull up beside them?” she said. “And radar, when we’re talking about primarily speeding violations, radar doesn’t have a race setting.”

State police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Separately, state troopers were accused of giving preferential treatment to drivers who have friends and family in law enforcement, according to the New Jersey Comptroller’s Office. In about 27% of 500 traffic stops over a 10-day span in 2022, drivers who either showed a badge, a “courtesy card” or told the officer that they came from a law enforcement family were let go. The comptroller’s office also found that troopers ran “computer lookups” on Hispanic drivers almost twice as often as White drivers.

Brantner Smith likened the state reports and investigations to a backdoor campaign against police. 

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“The public knows this, undoubtedly, that the police have been cut off at the knees,” she told Fox News Digital. “This is just a very soft way to be anti-police. It’s almost a way to defund the police without defunding, without talking about defunding them, without making anti-police statements publicly.”

Despite the pressure campaign, she said criminal charges against state police as a result of the special counsel investigation seem like a long shot based on how the Supreme Court has ruled on what police are responsible for.

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“The most ridiculous part of this is the criminal investigation,” she added. “The most horrific part of it are these additional accidents.”