The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine
February 2023 Edition
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
Chief Thomas Dellane
Stafford Township Police Department

As I write this month’s President’s message, we are still dealing with the shock of a cold-blooded line of duty murder right across the Delaware River of Temple University Police Department Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald. This came right on the heals of 14 other line of duty deaths of law enforcement officers throughout the country since the beginning of 2023.
 
As a nation we are also still dealing with the fallout from the January 7th death of Tyre Nichols and the resulting indictments of several Memphis Police Department officers.
 
SCOTUS Year in Review: Miranda warnings, malicious prosecutions and civil rights claims
By Terrence P. Dwyer, Esq., Police Liability and Litigation
Reprinted with permission from Police1.com
 
There were several noteworthy cases from the past term pertaining to law enforcement
officer liability for alleged constitutional violations
  
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – overturning abortion rights originally granted in Roe v. Wade – and New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen – providing an individual right to carry a firearm in public – overshadowed the rest of the October 2021 term. While neither case has a direct association with policing, there are tangential issues that could raise policing concerns.
 
Whether police officers should be dragged into enforcement efforts in those states criminalizing abortion is a topic left for another day as state abortion statutes develop in the wake of Dobbs. Similarly, the impact of the Second Amendment case on lawful and unlawful gun possession requires time to see how this evolves. Meanwhile, there were several noteworthy cases from the past term pertaining to law enforcement officer liability for alleged constitutional violations.
  
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