Sexism, Racism, Genital Jokes: 240 NJ Cops Attended Controversial Training, OSC Says

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey officials have released a list of 54 police agencies that allegedly spent taxpayer money on a “demeaning” and profanity-laden training conference that took place two years ago.

According to a scathing report from the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), a 2021 Street Cop Training conference in Atlantic City allegedly taught unconstitutional policing tactics, glorified violence and insulted women and people of color.

Nearly 1,000 police officers attended the conference, including 240 from New Jersey. The majority of these officers had their attendance paid for by their public employers. The comptroller investigation confirmed that at least $75,000 in public funds were directly spent by New Jersey entities on attendance at the conference. This number does not include paid time off and/or paid training days relating to officers’ attendance.

None of the attending officers complained about the training, the comptroller’s investigation found.

Read the full report here. See a list of the New Jersey police agencies named in the report here.

State officials have shared footage of the six-day training conference, which can be seen here (WARNING: Videos contain explicit language).

“We don't like treating turds, right?” one instructor can be seen telling the audience. “You’re like, ‘Ah, f*** ‘em. The ambulance can take care of them.’ Right?”

“Understanding pain, both physically and physiologically, it’s important,” another trainer encourages. “When we understand what it does and how, what purpose it serves, it's just another thing that we can harness and that we can leverage as a weapon.”

Some of the instructors joked about the sizes of their genitals, with one of them telling attendees that he would be “remiss if I didn’t remind you or let you know that I have a three-inch d***.”

Another speaker talked about wanting to die with prostitutes and cocaine instead of having a “hero’s exit.”

“Like, I’m on vacation in Colombia … and these girls, like, are not as wealthy, and they need to do things to make money,” he quipped, getting a laugh from the audience.

Other instructors displayed similar views about women during the conference.

“I watched this car come off the highway and I eye-f***** the s*** out the female driver,” one says. “She doesn't want to f*** me back, though – it’s gonna be the sneaky peek.”

One trainer mimics a Middle Eastern accent as he explains that “Everything is a business – even how we get married.” Another used an offensive meme of a monkey after describing a motor vehicle stop of a “75-year-old Black man coming out of Trenton.”

The comptroller’s office shared additional footage from the seminars, alleging that the clips show the following problematic material:

Glorifying Violence – “I love what the f*** I do for a living. There's nothing else I'm good at. I love violence. I love fighting. I love shooting. And I f****** love freedom. It wasn't that long ago that we were drinking out of the skulls of our enemies. Like, you know, like I'm gonna f****** murder this guy … Then I’m gonna take his head, then I’m gonna cut his head in half. And then I'm gonna boil his skull, and then I’m gonna drink out of that skull. F****** rad, right?” (Watch the video here)

Discriminatory, Harassing Comments – “The next person that challenges you about how we need to keep ‘reimagining’ [policing]?’ Ask he or she, him, her – she, him, whatever the f*** you want to call people now.” (Watch the video here)

Dehumanizing Civilians – “I'm not talking about the guy who's f****** recording you like, ‘I am not a citizen of the United States, and the f****** act twelve-six’ … Shut the f*** up, right? About to get pepper- sprayed, f****** tased, windows broken out, mother*****.”

Teaching Unconstitutional Policing Tactics – “Have a day where you go out and go, ‘I’m just gonna pull over 20 people in a row for the sole purpose of asking a series of questions. And make up your own questions. Something as simple as ‘Hey, how you doing? Where you come from? Hey, where you going?’ Be real friendly about it and stuff, and just see how people answer the questions. You will learn general baseline. And then when you ask somebody a question, and the answers are just weird, you'll be so much better at picking up on it.” (Watch the video here)

Encouraging Insubordination, Disparaging the Internal Affairs Process - “We show up, especially when we’re new, hammering out f***** tickets like they’re going out of style. ‘I don't care, bro, speed’s the speed, I’m saving your life.’ Shut the f*** up … ‘We don't like to write tickets, but we do because we care about your loved one – here’s a crashed car.’ Yeah. And then every f****** friend of yours who you work with does 106 in a 50. You stop ‘em like, ‘Yeah, you’re on the job. Yeah, have a good one’ – right?” (Watch the video here)

According to the OSC, here are the New Jersey police departments that spent public funds to send officers to the Street Cop Training conference (article continues below):

Interstate

• Palisades Interstate Parkway Police

State

• New Jersey State Park Police
• New Jersey State Police

County

• Somerset County Sheriff’s Office
• Union County Sheriff’s Office
• Warren County Prosecutor’s Office

Municipal

• Atlantic City
• Bergenfield Borough
• Boonton Town
• Bordentown Township
• Brick Township
• Brigantine City
• Butler Borough
• Carlstadt Borough
• Cherry Hill Township
• East Rutherford Borough
• Eastampton Township
• Edgewater Park Township
• Egg Harbor Township
• Elmwood Park Borough
• Florham Park Borough
• Glassboro Borough
• Glen Rock Borough
• Hackensack City
• Hamilton Township (Atlantic County)
• Harvey Cedars Borough
• Hightstown Borough
• Hopatcong Borough
• Howell Township
• Lincoln Park Borough
• Millville City
• Monmouth Beach Borough
• Montvale Borough
• Moorestown Township
• Morris Township
• New Milford Borough
• Newark City
• Ocean Township (Monmouth County)
• Old Bridge Township
• Pennsauken Township
• Perth Amboy City
• Plainsboro Township
• Pleasantville City
• Point Pleasant Beach Borough
• Riverside Township
• Robbinsville Township
• Rochelle Park Township
• South Hackensack Township
• Spring Lake Heights Borough
• Upper Saddle River Borough
• Vineland City
• West Deptford Township
• West Windsor Township
• Wharton Borough

Some police agencies in New Jersey have already begun doing damage control as fallout from the comptroller report continues – even those that didn’t send officers to the 2021 conference. Read More: West Orange Will Retrain Cops After Training Fiasco In South Jersey

Meanwhile, Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh says that the fiasco in Atlantic City shows that more regulation is needed when it comes to police training conducted by private companies.

“The fact that the training undermined nearly a decade of police reforms — and New Jersey dollars paid for it — is outrageous,” Walsh said.

Street Cop Training, a private company with a corporate headquarters in East Windsor, has issued an apology for any “inappropriate or offensive language” used at the workshops. However, the company says the comptroller’s office is wrong about several of its claims, including the assertion that the training may have been “unconstitutional.”

“While we were painted as the bad guys, we are in fact the good guys, creating better, more well-trained police officers for a country that expects the best from their men and women in blue – and everybody in this profession knows that,” Street Cop Training founder Dennis Benigno insisted.

The company annually conducts 40 to 45 courses in New Jersey, training more than 2,000 New Jersey state and local law enforcement officers every year.

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