Peter J. Barnes
Encyclopedia
Peter J. Barnes, Jr. is an American
Democratic Party
politician
, who has served as Chairman of the New Jersey State Parole Board
since March 2007. He previously served in New Jersey
's General Assembly
from 1996 to 2007, where he represented the 18th legislative district. In the Assembly, he served as the Majority Whip
from 2002 to 2007.
Jon Corzine
nominated Barnes to serve as Chairman of the New Jersey State Parole Board. In mid-March, he resigned his Assembly seat to assume the Parole Board Chairmanship. On March 14, 2007, Barnes was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate
and Barnes' son, Edison Councilman Peter J. Barnes III
, was chosen to fill his father's vacant seat.
Before his departure, Barnes served on the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee (Chair), the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee and the Human Services Committee.
He authored several major pieces of legislation, including a landmark bill that was signed into law in 2004 creating the New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing. This research outlet is composed of key representatives of the criminal justice system, who serve without compensation, and are charged with promoting sound sentencing policy founded on the basic principles of public safety, proportionality and fairness. After conducting empirically-based research, this deliberative body is charged with making recommendations to the Legislature on appropriate amendments to the State's sentencing code.
To honor the death of New Brunswick Deputy Fire Chief Jimmy D'heron, who was killed in the line of duty on September 3, 2004, Barnes also introduced a bill that was signed into law http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/PL05/290_.PDF in 2006, which established certain hiring preferences for the children of firefighters and law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. In June 2006, Michael D'heron, Jimmy's son, was hired by the New Brunswick Fire Department. For the Assemblyman's efforts, he was honored by the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey.
Barnes also sponsored legislation that created stricter regulation of unlicensed, unsupervised, and untrained bounty hunters http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/PL05/376_.PDF; created a law aimed at keeping common bomb-making materials away from terrorists http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/PL05/37_.PDF; and given state and local law enforcement officers more tools to investigate online sex crimes against children http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/PL05/270_.PDF.
Before resigning his seat, the Assemblyman introduced a controversial piece of legislation, Assembly Bill 2877 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/A3000/2877_I1.PDF, which would have reduced drug-free school and public property zones from 1,000 to 200 feet. This bill was introduced in response to a report issued by a blue-ribbon panel, the New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing, which strongly argued that the current drug-free school zone laws do not serve as the deterrent that they were purported to be. While this legislation remains the subject of some debate, it has received praise from the editorial page of The Star-Ledger
http://sentencing.nj.gov/downloads/star_ledger_editorial.pdf, New Jersey's largest newspaper. In addition, this report and subsequent legislation generated national attention and was reported in a variety of national daily newspapers.
from 1946-1948 as a Private First Class
in the Military Police.
At age 25, Barnes was hired as a Special Agent for the F.B.I.
where he served as an Assistant Senior Supervisory Agent and was responsible for investigating numerous violations of Federal Criminal Statutes.
In his first year, 1954, Barnes was assigned to F.B.I. San Francisco http://sanfrancisco.fbi.gov/, where he served until 1957. During his time there, he investigated cases involving bank robberies, Soviet espionage
, and kidnappings. In 1956, he worked on the Stephanie Bryant kidnapping case, which at that time was the most prominent kidnapping case the State of California had ever seen.
In 1958, Barnes was transferred to New Jersey, where he worked at F.B.I. Headquarters in Newark http://newark.fbi.gov/. He would spend the rest of his F.B.I. career in New Jersey, working at the F.B.I. New Brunswick and ending his career in 1980 at F.B.I. Piscataway. While in New Jersey, he was responsible for investigating cases involving white-collar crime
, bank robberies, and internal security.
In 1981, Barnes became the Director of Security for the New Jersey Devils
Hockey Team where he served until 1995.
Barnes began his public service in 1991 by serving as the Director of Public Safety in Edison
, New Jersey
. Only six months into his new position, Barnes led the Edison Police Department http://www.edisonnj.org/police/ as it engaged in a two-day hostage standoff with John Arias, a 22-year-old Connecticut man. On June 1, 1991, The New York Times
reported that Arias went to the home of Linda Galbo, his 20-year-old former girlfriend who had recently filed sexual assault charges against him, shot her four times, then locked himself in her Edison home where he killed the woman's mother, 38, and took her 9-year-old brother hostage.
With his F.B.I. training, Barnes ran the hostage negotiating team, which included one-on-one telephone contact with the hostage taker, Mr. Arias. The situation concluded one-day later at 7 p.m. when Barnes and his Deputy Chief, Anthony Calomoneri, were determined to "lay it on the line and get tough." They decided to send an armed personnel carrier rumbling up toward the house in an effort to scare the suspect into surrendering. Clearly shaken by this maneuver, John Arias phoned the police and said, "I'll be out in five seconds. Let me put my shoes on." The boy followed and was unharmed. Arias was subsequently sentenced to Life in Prison plus 50 years. He will not be eligible for parole until 2041.
In addition, newspaper reports from the Home News Tribune
and The Star-Ledger
, Edison's two daily newspapers, have largely credited Barnes with turning around a beleaguered Edison Police Department that suffered in the early 1990s through several embarrassing episodes of police misconduct, including: four officers being charged with raping a woman on-duty and the subsequent cover-up and sixteen officers being charged with misconduct for stealing food and groceries from a North Edison supermarket.
After decades of hiring new police recruits based on political involvement and nepotism, he is also credited for implementing a fairer hiring process, which included rigorous written, oral, and physical exams.
Barnes remained the Director of Public Safety in Edison until 1993.
Following, he served East Brunswick Township
as Director of Public Safety in 1997. He then returned again in 2005. Both times, he served the Township in an unpaid capacity.
from Providence College
in Political Science
. He has done Post-Baccalaureate work at Kean College in Public Administration
. He is also a graduate of the F.B.I. Crime Resistance and Hostage Negotiating Schools and of the F.B.I. Management Training Program.
. , they have four children and 10 grandchildren:
and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly
. The other representatives from the 18th Legislative District are:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, who has served as Chairman of the New Jersey State Parole Board
New Jersey State Parole Board
The New Jersey State Parole Board is a governmental body in the U.S. State of New Jersey that is responsible for assisting offenders to reenter society as law-abiding residents....
since March 2007. He previously served in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
's General Assembly
New Jersey General Assembly
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...
from 1996 to 2007, where he represented the 18th legislative district. In the Assembly, he served as the Majority Whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
from 2002 to 2007.
Biography
On February 5, 2007, Governor of New JerseyGovernor of New Jersey
The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
Jon Corzine
Jon Corzine
Jon Stevens Corzine is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and of MF Global, and a one time American politician, who served as the 54th Governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. A Democrat, Corzine served five years of a six-year U.S. Senate term representing New Jersey before being elected Governor...
nominated Barnes to serve as Chairman of the New Jersey State Parole Board. In mid-March, he resigned his Assembly seat to assume the Parole Board Chairmanship. On March 14, 2007, Barnes was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate
New Jersey Senate
The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. From 1844 until 1965 New Jersey's counties elected one Senator, each. Under the 1844 Constitution the term of office was three years. The 1947...
and Barnes' son, Edison Councilman Peter J. Barnes III
Peter J. Barnes III
Peter J. Barnes III is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in New Jersey's General Assembly since 2007, where he represents the 18th legislative district...
, was chosen to fill his father's vacant seat.
Before his departure, Barnes served on the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee (Chair), the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee and the Human Services Committee.
Legislation (1996-2007)
During his ten plus years in the Assembly, Barnes was the primary sponsor of 62 bills that were signed into law.He authored several major pieces of legislation, including a landmark bill that was signed into law in 2004 creating the New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing. This research outlet is composed of key representatives of the criminal justice system, who serve without compensation, and are charged with promoting sound sentencing policy founded on the basic principles of public safety, proportionality and fairness. After conducting empirically-based research, this deliberative body is charged with making recommendations to the Legislature on appropriate amendments to the State's sentencing code.
To honor the death of New Brunswick Deputy Fire Chief Jimmy D'heron, who was killed in the line of duty on September 3, 2004, Barnes also introduced a bill that was signed into law http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/PL05/290_.PDF in 2006, which established certain hiring preferences for the children of firefighters and law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. In June 2006, Michael D'heron, Jimmy's son, was hired by the New Brunswick Fire Department. For the Assemblyman's efforts, he was honored by the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey.
Barnes also sponsored legislation that created stricter regulation of unlicensed, unsupervised, and untrained bounty hunters http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/PL05/376_.PDF; created a law aimed at keeping common bomb-making materials away from terrorists http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/PL05/37_.PDF; and given state and local law enforcement officers more tools to investigate online sex crimes against children http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/PL05/270_.PDF.
Before resigning his seat, the Assemblyman introduced a controversial piece of legislation, Assembly Bill 2877 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/A3000/2877_I1.PDF, which would have reduced drug-free school and public property zones from 1,000 to 200 feet. This bill was introduced in response to a report issued by a blue-ribbon panel, the New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing, which strongly argued that the current drug-free school zone laws do not serve as the deterrent that they were purported to be. While this legislation remains the subject of some debate, it has received praise from the editorial page of The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
http://sentencing.nj.gov/downloads/star_ledger_editorial.pdf, New Jersey's largest newspaper. In addition, this report and subsequent legislation generated national attention and was reported in a variety of national daily newspapers.
Law enforcement career
Barnes served in the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
from 1946-1948 as a Private First Class
Private First Class
Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...
in the Military Police.
At age 25, Barnes was hired as a Special Agent for the F.B.I.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
where he served as an Assistant Senior Supervisory Agent and was responsible for investigating numerous violations of Federal Criminal Statutes.
In his first year, 1954, Barnes was assigned to F.B.I. San Francisco http://sanfrancisco.fbi.gov/, where he served until 1957. During his time there, he investigated cases involving bank robberies, Soviet espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, and kidnappings. In 1956, he worked on the Stephanie Bryant kidnapping case, which at that time was the most prominent kidnapping case the State of California had ever seen.
In 1958, Barnes was transferred to New Jersey, where he worked at F.B.I. Headquarters in Newark http://newark.fbi.gov/. He would spend the rest of his F.B.I. career in New Jersey, working at the F.B.I. New Brunswick and ending his career in 1980 at F.B.I. Piscataway. While in New Jersey, he was responsible for investigating cases involving white-collar crime
White-collar crime
Within the field of criminology, white-collar crime has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" . Sutherland was a proponent of Symbolic Interactionism, and believed that criminal behavior was...
, bank robberies, and internal security.
In 1981, Barnes became the Director of Security for the New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
Hockey Team where he served until 1995.
Barnes began his public service in 1991 by serving as the Director of Public Safety in Edison
Edison, New Jersey
Edison Township is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey. What is now Edison Township was originally incorporated as Raritan Township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1870, from portions of both Piscataway Township and Woodbridge Township...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Only six months into his new position, Barnes led the Edison Police Department http://www.edisonnj.org/police/ as it engaged in a two-day hostage standoff with John Arias, a 22-year-old Connecticut man. On June 1, 1991, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that Arias went to the home of Linda Galbo, his 20-year-old former girlfriend who had recently filed sexual assault charges against him, shot her four times, then locked himself in her Edison home where he killed the woman's mother, 38, and took her 9-year-old brother hostage.
With his F.B.I. training, Barnes ran the hostage negotiating team, which included one-on-one telephone contact with the hostage taker, Mr. Arias. The situation concluded one-day later at 7 p.m. when Barnes and his Deputy Chief, Anthony Calomoneri, were determined to "lay it on the line and get tough." They decided to send an armed personnel carrier rumbling up toward the house in an effort to scare the suspect into surrendering. Clearly shaken by this maneuver, John Arias phoned the police and said, "I'll be out in five seconds. Let me put my shoes on." The boy followed and was unharmed. Arias was subsequently sentenced to Life in Prison plus 50 years. He will not be eligible for parole until 2041.
In addition, newspaper reports from the Home News Tribune
Home News Tribune
Home News Tribune is a newspaper of New Jersey, serving the Middlesex County area of Central Jersey. The paper has an average daily weekday circulation of about 49,000. The newspaper is the result of a mid 1990s combination of The Home News of East Brunswick and The News Tribune of Woodbridge...
and The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
, Edison's two daily newspapers, have largely credited Barnes with turning around a beleaguered Edison Police Department that suffered in the early 1990s through several embarrassing episodes of police misconduct, including: four officers being charged with raping a woman on-duty and the subsequent cover-up and sixteen officers being charged with misconduct for stealing food and groceries from a North Edison supermarket.
After decades of hiring new police recruits based on political involvement and nepotism, he is also credited for implementing a fairer hiring process, which included rigorous written, oral, and physical exams.
Barnes remained the Director of Public Safety in Edison until 1993.
Following, he served East Brunswick Township
East Brunswick Township, New Jersey
The town is located southwest of New York City and 48 miles northeast of Philadelphia.Lawrence Brook, a tributary of the Raritan River, runs along the western border of the township...
as Director of Public Safety in 1997. He then returned again in 2005. Both times, he served the Township in an unpaid capacity.
Education
Barnes received a B.A.Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Providence College
Providence College
Providence College is a private, coeducational, Catholic university located about two miles west of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, United States, the state's capital city. With a 2010–2011 enrollment of 3,850 undergraduate students and 735 graduate students, the College specializes in academic...
in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. He has done Post-Baccalaureate work at Kean College in Public Administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
. He is also a graduate of the F.B.I. Crime Resistance and Hostage Negotiating Schools and of the F.B.I. Management Training Program.
Family
Peter J. Barnes resides with his wife Barbara in Edison, New JerseyEdison, New Jersey
Edison Township is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey. What is now Edison Township was originally incorporated as Raritan Township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1870, from portions of both Piscataway Township and Woodbridge Township...
. , they have four children and 10 grandchildren:
- Peter IIIPeter J. Barnes IIIPeter J. Barnes III is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in New Jersey's General Assembly since 2007, where he represents the 18th legislative district...
- lawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
& Edison, New Jersey Township Councilmember who succeeded Barnes in the Assembly. - Patrick (http://www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/prosecutor.htm) - Hunterdon County, New JerseyHunterdon County, New JerseyHunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 128,349. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Flemington....
Prosecutor. - Sheila - Realtor in New Canaan, ConnecticutNew Canaan, ConnecticutNew Canaan is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, northeast of Stamford, on the Fivemile River. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.The town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States...
. - Kelly - lives in Darien, ConnecticutDarien, ConnecticutDarien is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. A relatively small community on Connecticut's "Gold Coast", the population was 20,732 at the 2010 census. Darien was listed at #9 at CNN Money's list of "top-earning towns" in the United States as of 2011...
.
District 18
Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey SenateNew Jersey Senate
The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. From 1844 until 1965 New Jersey's counties elected one Senator, each. Under the 1844 Constitution the term of office was three years. The 1947...
and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly
New Jersey General Assembly
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...
. The other representatives from the 18th Legislative District are:
- Assemblyman Patrick J. DiegnanPatrick J. DiegnanPatrick J. Diegnan is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2002, where he represents the 18th legislative district.-Early life and family:...
, and - Senator Barbara BuonoBarbara BuonoBarbara Buono is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 2002, where she represents the 18th Legislative District....