By C1 Staff
NEW JERSEY — The New Jersey Senate on Monday will vote on a bill that would arm correctional officers with the same off-duty protections as police.
NJ.com reports that the bill would upgrade simple assault to aggravated assault if it’s committed against correctional officers and certain law enforcement officers because of job status.
This provision is given to police officers, but corrections staff must be in uniform and on duty.
“We take the same oath as police officers, we are under the same ethical code and held to the same standards, yet we don’t have the same protections,” Victor Bermudez, a correctional officer with the Cumberland County Jail and state delegate for PBA Local 231, said.
The legislation was introduced in 2014.