PBA Endorsement of Gopal & Donlon Splits Police & Their Supporters
The LD-11 Senator and Ocean Twp. Councilwoman have a sordid history when it comes to backing the blue.
The NJ State PBA recently issued its 2023 legislative endorsements. The choice of Democrat Sen. Vin Gopal and his running mate for the Assembly, Ocean Township Councilwoman Margie Donlon, raised eyebrows among police and their supporters, throwing the PBA’s endorsement into question.
A review of NJCourts.com shows Senator Gopal having approximately 38 moving and traffic violations, with one of the most recent charges occurring in 2022 for delaying traffic in Little Silver.
Gopal labels himself as a proud progressive leader who has championed progressive causes such as bail reform and votes against parental notification for underage consumption or usage of alcohol or cannabis.
With the indictment of Senator Bob Menendez fresh in the mind of New Jerseyans, some have called his enabling of the US Senator into question. Gopal supported eliminating mandatory minimums for public corruption as part of 2021 Senate Bill S3456 (shown at the bottom).
The endorsement of Assembly-hopeful Margie Donlon has raised similar questions as to the PBA’s vetting process for candidates. A review of the Ocean Township budgets for fiscal year 2020 and 2021 show a decrease in funding for the police. Deputy Mayor Donlon voted in the affirmative for the cuts.
This is notably during a time where support for police in the wake of Minneapolis’ George Floyd incident saw steep decline and widespread protests, including one led by Gopal and attended by Donlon per the former’s June 27th Facebook post in 2020.
While he thanked the Ocean Township police department, we can be assured that the sentiment expressed towards them was not friendly, with Mayor Donlon responding with further cuts to the department.
Whether the PBA did their homework on their endorsements is up for debate, but calling Gopal and Donlon allies of police seems to be a stretch.
The below crimes are currently punishable with a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for a person who serves or has served as a State or local public officer or employee.
When the criminal act involves or touches upon the person’s office or employment, the convicted would no longer be subject to such mandatory minimum:
- N.J.S.2C:20-4, theft by deception, when the amount involved exceeds $10,000;
- N.J.S.2C:20-9, theft by failure to make required disposition of property received, if the amount involved exceeds $10,000;
- N.J.S.2C:21-10, commercial bribery;
- section 3 of P.L.1994, c.121 (C.2C:21-25), money laundering (for which a mandatory minimum would be eliminated under the bill when committed by any person);
- section 97 of P.L.1999, c.440 (C.2C:21-34), false contract payment claims;
- N.J.S.2C:27-2, bribery in official matters;
- section 100 of P.L.1999, c.440 (C.2C:27-9), unlawful official business transaction where interest is involved;
- section 5 of P.L.2003, c.255 (C.2C:27-10), acceptance or receipt of unlawful benefit by public servant for official behavior;
- section 6 of P.L.2003, c.255 (C.2C:27-11), offer of unlawful benefit to public servant for official behavior;
- N.J.S.2C:28-1, perjury;
- N.J.S.2C:28-7, tampering with public records or information;
- N.J.S.2C:29-4, compounding, by accepting any pecuniary benefit to refrain from reporting to law enforcement authorities the commission or suspected commission of any offense, or information relating to an offense, or from seeking prosecution of an offense, or agree to give any pecuniary benefit to another to refrain from reporting of seeking prosecution;
- N.J.S.2C:30-2, official misconduct;
- N.J.S.2C:30-3, speculating or wagering on official action or information; and
- section 3 of P.L.2003, c.31 (C.2C:30-7), pattern of official misconduct.
Gopal is nothing but a Murphy puppet... they will continue with their useless, expensive green energy agenda