Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop continued his policy-forward 2025 gubernatorial campaign this morning with the release of a detailed plan on public safety and criminal justice, including proposals to reform the public defender system, raise the minimum age for firearm purchases, amend the state’s bail laws, and more.
“As mayor of the second largest city in New Jersey, I have a unique view into what kinds of steps are necessary for enhancing public safety and ensuring that residents and business owners feel safe in their communities, while also addressing the systemic biases that exist in the criminal justice system as well as the ways that state government fails to support those goals,” Fulop said in a statement. “Our plans for public safety and criminal justice are designed to tackle some of the most persistent challenges New Jersey faces by adopting proven, data-driven strategies around policing that will make all of our communities safer.”
The proposal is Fulop’s third since launching his gubernatorial campaign; he previously released his plans for the state’s public transit and housing policies.
Some of the biggest changes outlined by today’s proposal would be to the state’s bail laws, which were reformed under Gov. Chris Christie but which have since come under bipartisan scrutiny. Under a Governor Fulop, certain recidivist offenders would not be eligible for release without bail, and county prosecutors would be required to identify repeat criminals and prosecute them in “an escalating fashion.”
Fulop also noted that a key flaw in the state’s bail system is the lack of judicial capacity to handle cases, including the state Superior Court’s persistently high vacancy rate.
“The real problem is that all defendants, those with or without resources, are waiting too long to have their cases adjudicated,” the proposal reads. “New Jersey needs to get serious about increasing the number of judges and the resources available to county prosecutors. In over 90% of all cases, all of the evidence is available almost immediately. The only reason for the delays in adjudication is that the system does not have enough capacity.”
While the proposal would increase jail terms for some offenders, Fulop also says he would support sentencing alternatives where possible, and closing youth prisons in favor of a greater focus on youth monitoring and rehabilitation.
One important part of any criminal justice plan, Fulop’s proposal argues, is reforming public defender’s offices around the state. As governor, Fulop would work to increase funding for public defender’s offices and make pay for public defenders equal to that of prosecutors; the proposal also supports eliminating all public defender fees charged to defendants, a reform which Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law earlier this year. (Separately, Fulop says he supports a phased-in restoration of the Cost of Living Adjustment for state pensions, which would increase pension payments for many retired state workers across all departments.)
With regards to police departments, Fulop proposes eliminating the Police Chief Bill of Rights – a policy that was designed to protect police chiefs from local politics but which Fulop says has given chiefs “complete impunity … without any accountability to voters” – and updating the Attorney General’s guidelines for Community Civilian Review Boards to require more transparency and civilian oversight.
“There are many steps that can be taken to support good officers and prevent bad behavior by weak ones,” the proposal states. “No policy changes will matter if there is no accountability from law enforcement.”
Finally, the proposal outlines several steps Fulop would take to reduce gun violence, including raising the minimum age for all firearm purchases from 18 to 21; mandating minimum jail terms for anyone illegally carrying a handgun; and creating county-level ceasefire units to investigate gun crimes.
“As the mayor of New Jersey’s second largest city, Steve Fulop has seen firsthand the devastation of everyday gun violence,” the proposal says. “Recognizing that shootings are committed over and over again by a very small number of offenders, Fulop would lead a statewide, coordinated attack on gun violence and focus all of the resources of the criminal justice system on these individuals.”
So far, Fulop faces one Democratic gubernatorial opponent: former Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), who launched his campaign last week. Other candidates, including Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) and Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, could join the race as well.