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Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) today announced legislation that would require independent investigations of officer-involved deaths in New Jersey. (Ed Murray | The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — In a move to eliminate conflicts of interest and bolster public confidence, two lawmakers in the state Assembly today announced legislation that would require independent investigators be appointed to review all officer-involved deaths in the state.

And one of the lawmakers, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), said he intends to add language to the bill that would mandate a report be issued to the public at the end of officer-involved death investigations in cases that do not result in criminal charges.

The legislation (A3756) was introduced Oct. 2, a day after NJ Advance Media published a five-month investigation into the 2008 death of Kenwin Garcia, 25, of Newark, after a struggle with State Police troopers on the side of Interstate 287 in Hanover Township.

Among other things, the investigation disclosed differing police accounts of what happened, questions about the official cause of death and how troopers treated Garcia, and conflicts of interest in the system that cleared two troopers of wrongdoing.

In response, civil rights and police policy experts have called for the state Attorney General's Office to mandate statewide public reporting at the start and end of officer-involved death investigations, as well as the elimination of conflicts of interest.

Acting Attorney General John Hoffman has defended the current system.

As it stands in New Jersey, deaths involving local police are investigated by the county prosecutor's office, and deaths involving statewide law enforcement, such as State Police troopers, are investigated by a team overseen by the state Attorney General's Office. But that team consists, in part, of troopers investigating fellow troopers.

Under the proposed bill, officer-involved deaths involving a local police officer must be investigated by at least two independent people who are employed by a county prosecutor's office in a county other than where the incident occurred.

For incidents involving state troopers, the bill would require that at least two people who are not employed by the division conduct an investigation.

Gusciora said he intends to add language to require the release of public reports at the end of officer-involved death investigations that do not result in criminal charges. All of the measures would bolster trust in the police and reduce exposure to lawsuits, he said.

"At least with an independent investigation, you can’t say at the end of the day it was an inside cover up," Gusciora said. "The whole thing is about transparency and especially when no charges are filed, the public demands and deserves an explanation."

Gusciora said the legislation was modeled after a Wisconsin bill signed into law earlier this year that required independent investigators in cases of officer-involved deaths. The Wisconsin law also requires authorities to release a report to the public about officer-involved incidents at the conclusion of an investigation if criminal charges are not filed.

Christopher Baxter may be reached at cbaxter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cbaxter1. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.