Governor discusses police accountability, dining with Trump, deadly milestone
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
As Gov. Phil Murphy welcomed New Jersey to Stage 2 of the COVID-19 recovery, which allows organized sports, he noted 646 liquor permits have been issued across the state for alcohol consumption as restaurants and bars have been allowed to serve patrons outdoors because indoor imbibing remains prohibited.
That is a moot point in Ocean City, which doesn’t allow alcohol to be served, but from Cape May to Somers Point to Marmora, establishments had already begun preparing for the change. Cape May approved public consumption in multiple areas in town.
On Monday, June 15, restaurants were allowed to begin serving patrons outdoors and nonessential retailers were allowed to open their doors to customers for the first time since the pandemic restrictions were put in place in mid-March.
“Welcome, New Jersey, to Stage 2 of our restart and recovery,” Murphy said at his daily press conference Monday afternoon. “Today we begin our next leg in our journey back.”
He said two things are known with “absolute certainty,” that outdoor environments are safer than indoor environments and wearing a face covering is safer than not wearing one.
With that in mind, he said just about all types of outdoor activities were being allowed to resume on a new timetable, but the places that “remain the most dangerous for transmission” include gyms and indoor seating in restaurants. He gave no timetable on when those would be allowed to reopen, but he did say he hoped moving on to Stage 3 of the economic reopening would be in weeks rather than months.
“We will get there, but we will get there based on our health metrics,” Murphy said. “If we open too quickly without restoring consumer confidence, there would be no customers.”
One of the main points of Monday’s press conference was that organized sports will be allowed to resume on Monday, June 22, with various restrictions based on the type of sports.
Low-risk sports such as golf and tennis may resume competitions June 22.
Medium-risk sports such as baseball, softball, soccer and outdoor basketball will be limited to non-contact drills and practices, but barring “a significant uptick” in COVID-19 cases, the resumption of competition in those sports can begin July 6.
High-risk sports, the governor said, such as football, can resume non-contact drills June 22 and should be able to have full contact practices as of July 20.
All sports will have to resume with safety restrictions, such as limited contact, limited sharing of equipment and increased disinfection of equipment.
Activities under the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) that regulates high school sports must abide by its rules.
All competitions must abide by the limit on outdoor gatherings, which is now 100 but is expected to be 250 by June 22 and 500 people by July 3, Murphy said.
State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli added there are standards to protect players, staff and families. Organizers must have plans in place for the new reality of COVID-19, such as having staff members to remind people of social and physical distancing along with signs and physical barriers to assist with that; the staff and spectators must wear masks; athletes are encouraged to wear masks when they’re not competing, but not while engaged in their sports; and they should bring their own water bottles.
Persichilli said participants must be screened for symptoms, including fever, before they are allowed to participate, facilities should have posted protocols for social distancing and hygiene; coaches should stagger practices to keep group size down; there should be routine disinfecting of equipment and heavily traveled areas; and that hand sanitizer and other cleaning products such as soap and water should be readily available.
Police Accountability
Murphy said New Jersey Attorney General Gubir Grewal announced another step for police accountability after he ordered chokeholds banned 10 days earlier. The new step is for law enforcement agencies statewide to publicly identify officers who have committed serious disciplinary violations – if they have been fired, demoted or been suspended for more than five days.
In the past, their names have been kept from the public unless they have been charged with crimes.
Colonel Pat Callahan, commander of the New Jersey State Police, said he is releasing information for the past 20 years including the names of all troopers who have faced serious disciplinary actions – some 400 cases.
The governor urged all law enforcement agencies to follow the colonel’s lead.
“I think this is good for everybody,” Murphy said when questioned about the value of naming officers, “in particular with emphasis on building further trust in sense that with absence of information you assume the worst.” With more information, “you get clearer sense of the reality.”
Callahan said the State Police already published summaries of major discipline and the decision just changes that to include the names of the troopers involved.
He said they talked about “embracing scrutiny and transparency” and that the “acts of a few should not tarnish the profession. Let public decide.”
Solemn milestone
Although the number of hospitalizations, use of ventilators and patients in intensive care has continued to drop, nationwide New Jersey ranks second in deaths per day, fourth in patients in hospitals and 31st in new cases per day.
“That is why we’re not going to throw open all of our doors at once as other states have done,” he said. “We’ve already paid a huge, huge, almost unfathomable price and our goal remains to save lives and that starts by keeping people out of the hospital, out of the ICU and off of a ventilator to begin with.”
On Saturday, the governor said, the state passed a solemn milestone – there were more people who have died from COVID-19 than the number of people from New Jersey who died fighting in World War II.
There are now 12,676 deaths from COVID-19. In World War II, 12,565 service members from New Jersey lost their lives.
He took a moment and mentioned a service member from each county who died. He included Marine Corps Private First Class Theodore V. Choinacki of Atlantic County and Navy Aviation Chief Ordnanceman Lyle Joseph Scholten of Cape May County.
He asked everyone to observe a moment of silence for the veterans who have given their lives for the country.
Dining with Trump
Murphy was asked about dining with President Trump after he brought up the fact the president has signed off on federal funding for the $1.8 billion Portal Bridge project to replace a century-old, swing-span bridge over the Hackensack River. The federal government will pay about half the cost, Murphy said, with the state and New Jersey Transit splitting the rest of the cost.
Because Murphy has been outspoken about supporting Black Lives Matter, he was asked if he brought up that topic and others with the president and why he felt compelled to dine with him even though Trump has inflamed racial tensions.
The governor said they did discuss “this moment in time” and topics including changing the names of military bases now named for Confederate generals, but he said he will work with the president of the United States.
“I don’t get the luxury of waking up and getting to choose which president I get to deal with,” the governor said. “He is the president. On Portal, on COVID-19, there is one federal government. They play an existential role.”
