What Gurbir Grewal Learned as the Nation’s First Sikh Attorney General

Gurbir S. Grewal did not question retired the almighty relation astatine the Securities and Exchange Commission that helium is readying to commencement connected Monday.

Officials astatine the S.E.C. approached Mr. Grewal, New Jersey’s longest-serving lawyer wide successful decades, to tally a key enforcement division for the nation’s apical securities regulator aft its former manager resigned days aft taking the job.

Born to Indian immigrants successful Jersey City, N.J., Mr. Grewal volition stay rooted successful the Garden State, commuting betwixt Washington and Bergen County, wherever his wife, a doctor, and their 3 daughters volition proceed to live.

Last Friday, helium posted an emotional, 10-minute video farewell that touched connected what helium saw arsenic notable victories adjacent arsenic helium sounded a acquainted theme: the request to reconstruct and heighten spot successful authorities and successful the transgression justness system, peculiarly among communities of color.

“Justice is simply not astir numbers of arrests oregon convictions,” helium said successful the video. “Justice is besides astir the cases we don’t make, the individuals we support retired of the transgression justness system.”

In the 3 and a fractional years since helium was named lawyer wide by Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, helium joined dozens of multistate lawsuits against the Trump administration. The cases helped to make a bulwark against efforts to remove immoderate families from stamps and exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count.

Mr. Grewal, 48, is not without critics. Some defence lawyers and advocates of transgression justness betterment person panned his policies arsenic well-intentioned but timid. He has besides faced questions astir whether a nationalist corruption probe that led to the arrests of low-level governmental operatives enabled the state’s superior informant to rake successful millions successful authorities contracts, arsenic documented by a caller nj.com article.

He is the archetypal to accidental overmuch enactment remains.

But helium said helium besides believed that helium had shifted the priorities of an bureau that is, for now, successful the hands of a trusted apical deputy, Andrew Bruck.

He acceptable caller limits connected erstwhile the constabulary tin usage force.

In December, Mr. Grewal’s bureau rewrote the rules governing the use of force by the state’s 38,000 constabulary officers and required them to intervene if they saw a workfellow utilizing amerciable oregon excessive force. The policy, which takes effect adjacent year, limits erstwhile the constabulary tin strike, pursuit oregon sprout civilians oregon usage canines.

In the meantime, each officers are expected to acquisition grooming successful de-escalation tactics and bystander intervention.

“So we’re producing guardians, not warriors,” Mr. Grewal said.

The changes were accompanied by the work of a website that allows users to hunt and way incidents successful which a New Jersey constabulary serviceman reports utilizing carnal force. Earlier this month, Mr. Grewal besides released much than 10 years of data involving centrifugal conveyance stops by State Police troopers, including the contention oregon ethnicity of the drivers pulled implicit oregon charged.

Last month, the authorities Supreme Court unanimously ruled that constabulary departments are required, arsenic directed by Mr. Grewal, to merchandise a database of officers who person been taxable to “major discipline” that led to a suspension of 5 oregon much days.

A bill pending successful the Legislature would necessitate the merchandise of acold much still-secret constabulary disciplinary records, overmuch similar the repeal of a conception of New York’s civilian rights instrumentality did successful New York City.

“States are laboratories for democracy,” Mr. Grewal said, quoting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. “If there’s going to beryllium meaningful alteration connected policing, it volition travel here.”

Building spot with immigrants was an aboriginal priority.

In his archetypal twelvemonth successful office, Mr. Grewal ordered constabulary officers successful local, region and authorities agencies to bounds the voluntary assistance they offered national Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who during the Trump medication had stepped up arrests.

Known arsenic the “Immigrant Trust Directive,” it blocks instrumentality enforcement officers from asking radical astir their migration status, oregon from helping ICE agents arsenic they marque detention arrests. It permits officers to crook implicit undocumented immigrants charged with definite crimes to ICE agents, but lone if those agents prime up the migrants connected the time of their merchandise from jail.

The goal, Mr. Grewal has said, is to destruct the fearfulness of coming guardant for radical who are not successful the state legally and whitethorn beryllium victims oregon witnesses to crimes.

The directive won cardinal backing from constabulary leaders, but it besides prompted lawsuits by respective Republican-led counties and a nonbinding ballot referendum successful Sussex County, wherever voters overwhelmingly gave the argumentation a symbolic thumbs down.

Mr. Grewal besides often highlighted upticks successful bias crimes and hatred speech.

He has spoken forcefully astir knowing the sting of racism arsenic the first Sikh successful the country to go a statewide lawyer general.

In May 2018 helium described getting decease threats and being called “towel head,” “rag head” and “terrorist.” Months aboriginal a New Jersey vigor big referred to him arsenic “turban man.”

Before becoming Bergen County’s authoritative successful 2016, helium worked successful backstage signifier and investigated white-collar crimes arsenic an adjunct U.S. lawyer successful New York and New Jersey.

“Maybe, possibly it makes it easier for a kid who looks similar me,” Mr. Grewal said of his visibility successful high-profile roles.

Nonviolent cause offenders tin use for release.

In 2018, Mr. Murphy assembled a bipartisan commission that worked for 18 months to scope statement connected a landmark transgression justness inaugural that would person ended long, mandatory sentences for astir nonviolent cause and spot crimes.

Then bare-knuckle New Jersey politics derailed the measure that would person led to the sentencing overhaul. Mr. Murphy has doubly vetoed amended legislation, adjusted astatine the behest of a well-connected Democratic authorities senator, who wants to destruct mandatory minimum sentences for corrupt nationalist officials arsenic well.

In April, lawyers successful Mr. Grewal’s bureau devised an alternate solution, drafting a directive that accomplished overmuch of what the authorities had intended. Nonviolent cause offenders sentenced to agelong situation presumption arsenic portion of the warfare connected drugs were fixed a mode to extremity oregon shorten their incarceration.

The resentencing process has been cumbersome. And radical serving clip for different nonviolent crimes covered by the archetypal measure are not eligible for release.

But it was hailed arsenic an elegant if imperfect solution that underscored the powerfulness of New Jersey’s lawyer general, who oversees 750 lawyers, respective 100 less than the S.E.C.’s enforcement division.

Mr. Grewal tin hardly fell his vexation with the politics that muddied the effort of a committee that was made up of prosecutors, judges, defence lawyers and erstwhile constabulary and situation officials.

It has kept radical imprisoned years longer than necessary, helium said. “People who are suffering close now.”

The authorities is taking a tougher attack connected guns and their makers.

Mr. Murphy has signed bills that banned alleged shade guns that tin beryllium assembled with untraceable materials and encouraged the merchantability of weapons that tin beryllium fired lone by the registered owner.

Mr. Grewal has besides ordered each authorities and section law-enforcement agencies to stock accusation astir radical who merchantability and bargain guns utilized successful crimes and blocked companies from selling oregon shipping shade guns to New Jersey residents.

The efforts person led the Giffords Law Center to fertile New Jersey No. 2, down California, for the spot of its weapon laws.

A suit filed by the lawyer general’s bureau implicit however the weapons shaper Smith & Wesson advertises is seen arsenic the country’s most consequential ineligible battle implicit the aboriginal of weapon control.

The lawyer general’s bureau has issued a subpoena for interior Smith & Wesson documents, which, if obtained, could exposure the interior workings of an manufacture that is typically shielded from revealing its secrets by national laws that marque it immune from liability for weapon crimes and deaths.

Still, Mr. Grewal said helium considered a assemblage locomotion helium took past week done Atlantic City a likewise potent mode to trim weapon violence, by eliminating barriers that tin abstracted the constabulary from residents.

“That’s the exemplary that works,” helium added. “We overcomplicate nationalist safety. It’s astir trust.”