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Trenton, NJ – Attorney
General Anne Milgram today released the
report of the State Police Executive Protection
Unit Review Panel which was created following
the April 12 accident on the Garden State
Parkway in which Gov. Jon S. Corzine was
critically injured.
The eight-member panel,
convened by former Attorney General Stuart
Rabner, was asked to study the general practices
of the State Police Executive Protection
Unit and provide guidelines regarding the
operation of the unit.
“The report provides
an important blueprint for change in the
operation of the Executive Protection Unit,”
Attorney General Milgram said. “I
am grateful for the time and effort members
of the panel gave to reviewing State Police
procedures in effect for protecting the
safety of the Governor and the public.’’
The panel made 18 recommendations
related to staffing and personnel, training,
equipment, and emergency protocols. Among
the recommendations were to increase the
unit’s size from its current number
of 29 troopers, limit the time a trooper
drives the Governor in a single day to no
more than eight hours, and require a 40-hour
training course at the State Police academy
for members of the unit and supplemental
training on protective driving.
The advisory group, co-chaired by former
Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and former Attorney
General John Degnan, called for guidelines
that would permit the Governor’s motorcade
to travel at a speed that facilitates the
safe movement of the Governor while not
creating unnecessary risks for any other
drivers and passengers. Travel far in excess
of posted speed limits or the flow of traffic
should not be permitted unless there is
a specific threat, the panel recommended.
The panel also recommended
against using emergency lights and sirens
unless there is a particular threat, a security-related
reason, or other emergency.
The advisory group also suggested rotating
vehicles out of the protective detail when
mileage hits 80,000 miles and suggested
the State Police consider replacing the
Chevrolet Suburbans as the Governor’s
primary vehicle. The group also endorsed
a suggestion that the Governor use a State
Police helicopter more often to get around
the state.
The panel interviewed State
Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes,
members of the Executive Protection Unit
and executive protection professionals in
other state police agencies and in the private
sector. Col. Fuentes also testified at a
public hearing on May 31.
Other members of the panel
were Steven H. Carey, a former special agent
in charge of the New York office of the
U.S. Secret Service; former U.S. Attorney
Jonathan Goldstein; former State Senator
William Gormley; William Megary, a former
special agent in charge of the FBI office
in Newark; Carlos Ortiz, vice president
and general counsel of Goya Foods; and former
New Jersey Bar Association President Karol
Corbin Walker.
>>
View
Report (2.7mb pdf) plug-in
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