Fleet Management Unit

The Fleet Management Unit (FMU) serves as liaison between the NJDOC and Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Transportation Services, to insure that all departmental vehicles are receiving proper repair at all Treasury, Bureau of Transportation Services, repair facilities. All correspondence between the two departments relating to vehicle operations is handled by the FMU. The unit also is responsible for registrations, insurance cards, fueling cards, EZ-Pass account oversight – including transponder assignments – and the replacement of lost or stolen license plates.  The FMU interacts with NJDOC vehicle coordinators and Treasury, Bureau of Transportation Services, staff to evaluate vehicle replacement schedules and orchestrate vehicle exchanges. Additionally, continuous evaluation of Federal Motor Vehicle standards is conducted to insure departmental compliance.

The FMU manages the department’s extensive vehicle database, analyzing current and historical vehicle assignment information as well as mileage reporting to establish vehicle replacement criteria. Requests for NJDOC vehicle information from outside agencies is provided when appropriate. In addition, the unit composes investigative correspondence of vehicle-related infractions, such as Vehicle Complaints and Traffic Violations forwarded by the Department of the Treasury.

The FMU prepares all documentation required to acquire new vehicles. It also evaluates special equipment needs, such as security equipment, and coordinates installation. The unit is constantly on call to assist departmental personnel in the retrieval of disabled vehicles, insuring that retrieval is in compliance with Department of the Treasury policy.

Office of Training

The Office of Training provides corrections personnel with the skills necessary to successfully complete their tasks and to administer the care, custodial treatment and social reintegration of adult offenders committed to correctional facilities in New Jersey.

In order to qualify for admission into the Correctional Staff Training Academy, applicants must complete a four-phase pre-employment process that includes a background investigation, and physical and psychological examinations. 

Two state laws help to define the Office of Training’s mission: the Police Training Act, which mandates training for state and county correction officers; and the Gun Control Act, which requires firearms qualification training for all state and county correction officers. Legislation obligates the Police Training Commission to approve the state basic curriculum and county officer recruit training programs, as well as firearms training programs. The Office of Training has codified and standardized the curriculum and expanded the content and duration of the basic
training. After completing the required courses, each officer receives a basic training diploma from the NJDOC and receives certification from the Police Training Commission.

The NJDOC training facility was relocated in September 1998 from the New Jersey Training School for Boys in Skillman to the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt. The programs offered are designed to develop and enhance the skills of employees and to prepare them for future advancement, while presenting a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to training. To augment the staff, adjunct instructors are utilized from state correctional facilities as well as various law enforcement agencies.

The Office of Training is organized into the following units:

• The Correctional Staff Training Academy conducts basic training for state correction officers, with instructors who are certified by the Police Training Commission. Training classes include arrest, search and seizure, use of force, criminal law, first aid/CPR, weaponry, un-armed defensive tactics, intensive physical conditioning, security concepts, human relations and professional development. The Standards Unit within the Office of Training develops and implements guidelines, curriculum and standards of operation for both basic training and the In-Service Training Program. This unit also is responsible for overseeing methods of instruction, physical training, defensive tactics and other staff development courses offered by the Office of Training.
• The In-Service Training Unit is responsible for overseeing the in-service training programs for all departmental personnel. The training is conducted at various regional sites throughout the state. The In-Service Training Unit conducts executive, management development, supervisory, non-uniformed, and volunteer and contracted provider training, as well as training in a variety of other disciplines. The unit also is responsible for conducting all federal- and state-mandated training. The unit also sponsors trainings offered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Homeland Security National Training Consortium. In-service training programs are updated and revised annually to keep pace with the ever-evolving profession of corrections and the goals of the NJDOC.
• The Custody Recruitment Unit (CRU) is responsible for the recruitment, investigation and recommendation of future correction officers. CRU staff members visit high schools, colleges and job fairs throughout the state to promote the many career opportunities within the NJDOC.

College credits, accepted by and transferable to many two- and four-year colleges and universities, are available for the majority of the Office of Training’s course offerings.

The Office of Training also is responsible for the NJDOC Ceremonial Unit, which coordinates funeral detail representation for custody or civilian staff line-of-duty deaths and retired custody staff. The Ceremonial Unit also responds to requests for honor guards and pipe bands for outside agencies.

Office of Policy and Planning

The Office of Policy and Planning is responsible for the evaluation of correctional and criminal justice information in the context of relevant law, policy and practice, and the development of data analyses, studies and reports to support NJDOC operations. The office acts as a liaison with New Jersey, federal, other state and local law and justice system agencies for strategic planning purposes, including the development of goals, objectives, impact analyses and research.

The Office of Policy and Planning is responsible for several NJDOC units.

• The Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM) Unit is the operational unit responsible for the generation, distribution and maintenance of NJDOC policy statements and internal management procedures, which are documents that impact on the operation of all organizational units under the authority of the Commissioner of the NJDOC. Special emphasis is placed on the development of standardized, custody-related policies and procedures that impact the safety and security of the public, staff and inmates. Additionally, training of executive staff in the APPM protocol occurs regularly.
• The Criminal Justice Interagency Unit (CJIU) interacts, promotes and oversees the utilization of technology in order to improve the exchange of information among criminal justice agencies at the federal, state, county and municipal levels.
• The Video Teleconference (VTC) Unit develops, implements and maintains state-of-the art video teleconferencing capability throughout the state criminal justice system. In doing so, the unit increases efficiency, lowers operating costs and increases public safety and community protection by reducing the external movement of state inmates into the community and providing system-wide access to the NJDOC inmate population for criminal justice systems at all levels – state, county, local and federal.
• The Grants Management Unit is charged with the oversight of all NJDOC grant activities. These responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the seeking of funding opportunities, technical support to staff developing grant applications, processing of grant applications, fiscal management of grant funds, monitoring of grant activities and grant reporting requirements.
• The Research and Evaluation Unit provides statistical support and analysis, including empirical research and program evaluation services to the various program divisions and units within the NJDOC. The mission of the unit is to conduct and facilitate action-oriented research that informs and influences policy and practice.
• The Resource Review and Study (RR&S) Unit identifies benchmarks in order to quantify and analyze NJDOC performance, comply with federal reporting requirements, document best practices and foster successful innovations in a number of areas. Those areas include, but not limited to, improved performance of the overall inmate management and service functions; improved impact analysis for future policy objectives; and validation of duration, cost, effort and quality objectives for inmate services.
• The Policy Analysis and Planning Unit uses inmate residents, admissions and releases data to calculate inmate population projections, which are used for departmental planning  

and budget support purposes. Each month, inmate population estimates on admissions, releases and residents by calendar year and fiscal year are prepared. Each year, the unit receives various surveys to complete from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, where data is used in the making of reports for the entire nation. Similarly, a foreign-born inmate residents’ report is prepared monthly. This report is forwarded to federal government agencies for illegal immigration purposes.

The unit analyzes the impact of sentencing legislation on inmate population growth and develops analyses of proposed legislation that may affect inmate population growth, NJDOC budgetary needs and NJDOC capital needs. Data from the unit’s downloads is obtained, and as calendar year information is studied, the data is used as an indicator of how many cases flow in the NJDOC from admissions, to residents, to releases. From this, the unit determines how many beds will be required for any given bill proposed by the legislature.

An annual offender characteristics report is prepared and posted on the NJDOC Web site. The unit responds to requests coming directly from the director of Policy and Planning as well as from the Office of Public Information. An annual offender characteristics report is prepared and posted on the NJDOC Web site. The unit also receives various ad hoc requests for information/data related to inmate admissions, departures and inmate population; for example, the unit assists on the Capital Budget request and also reports annually on the amount of eligible inmate residents for the Youth Offenders Grant. An inmate deaths report is kept by this unit. The unit prepares a release outcome report that is used to respond to questions related to recidivism rates. It also works with various
criminal justice system agencies at the county, state and federal levels to facilitate sharing of information and data. To this end, the unit prepares quarterly, semi-annual and annual data that is shared with various criminal justice system agencies in such areas as inmate population, inmate characteristics and inmate deaths. The Average Inmate Counts for Medical Services Report is also maintained by this unit.