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These 33 Monmouth County PDs Wasted $1M On 'Street Cop' Training, Comptroller Says

A new report by New Jersey's Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) reveals that 377 New Jersey police departments and law enforcement agencies collectively spent over $1 million in public funds on training hosted by Street Cop Training, a company previously criticized for teaching discriminatory and likely unconstitutional tactics.

The findings, published in a supplemental report by the OSC, follow its December 2023 Police Accountability Project report, which exposed troubling content from Street Cop Training’s 2021 conference. Nearly 1,000 officers, including many from New Jersey, attended the conference, where they were taught "dangerous, improper, and likely illegal policing tactics," according to the OSC (click here for a list of the 377 departments from the OSC).

The fallout led the New Jersey Attorney General to mandate retraining for all attendees and prohibit state officers from participating in future Street Cop Training events. Despite this directive, OSC’s latest report found that at least 20 New Jersey officers registered for the company’s 2024 conference in Florida.

“Hundreds of law enforcement agencies are spending public funds on clearly subpar training, and some are even repeat customers,” said Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh. “The risks to public safety are high.”

Street Cop Training Founder and CEO Dennis Benigno

NJOSC

Click here for excerpts from the training that the OSC says include more than 100 harassing and discriminatory remarks, encourage insubordination and disparagement of internal affairs, teach unconstitutional policing, and more.

From December 2019 to March 2023, police departments in all 21 New Jersey counties, along with public universities and interstate agencies, continued to allocate funds to Street Cop Training. At least 32 departments returned for additional courses even after the 2021 conference, despite its content being described as discriminatory and lewd.

Internal records also suggest that Street Cop Training helped officers conceal their participation in its programs. In one case, an active New Jersey State Police trooper requested to continue selling on-demand courses without being listed on the company’s website to "avoid scrutiny."

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin emphasized the need for proper oversight of law enforcement training. “It is critical that the training our officers receive aligns with the directives, policies, and best practices that have been implemented,” Platkin said. He also directed the Division on Civil Rights to review the findings for any potential civil rights violations.

The OSC report highlighted additional concerns, including agencies requesting materials from Street Cop Training to defend officers in lawsuits. The Comptroller’s Office reviewed other training materials provided by the company and found that they aligned with the problematic teachings of the 2021 conference.

The OSC reiterated its recommendations from the 2023 report, calling for all officers who attended Street Cop Training events to be retrained and for stricter oversight of private police training. Currently, New Jersey relies on officers to self-report improper training, a strategy the OSC says is ineffective.

Attorney General Platkin praised the OSC for its investigation, adding, “The updated information will be referred to the Division on Civil Rights for additional consideration and to employing agencies to implement any necessary retraining.”

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