A Message from William G. Parenti, Chief of Police
Recent tragic in custody deaths and the resulting demonstrations have caused a major push for police reform in this country. North Plainfield Police Department has always held itself to a higher standard. We have been meeting and interacting with our community leaders to ensure our policies are of the best practices.
North Plainfield Police was the first Accredited agency in Somerset County and we have just received our 5th re-accreditation. Thus, demonstrating our policies are current. North Plainfield Police banned choke holds in 2007 and are ahead of the curve with the policy changes recommended by the Attorney General. We mandate an administrative review for all use of force incidents. After the report is filed it is reviewed by the officer’s immediate supervisor, followed by the division commander, with a final review by the Captain to ensure compliance with our policies. North Plainfield Police have been compliant with the 8 can’t wait policies for over 10 years.
Taking our officers to a higher-level means providing and community based policing concepts and training. A partial list of judicious training subjects are: ethics, de-escalation, cultural diversity, racial profiling and discriminatory practices, implicit bias, bias crimes, LGBTQ, sexual assault, mental health de-escalation and how to interact and identify people with Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and any other illness or disability that is impairing the individual’s mental capacity at the time. The training provides the officer a compassionate understanding so the situation does not become violent. Each year we train in about 50 timely subjects as we serve our proud community.
