The Speaker

Director Quovella M. Spruill is the NOBLE New Jersey Chapter’s Executive Vice President. Director Spruill presently serves as the first Public Safety Director of the Franklin Police Department, in the Township of Franklin (Somerset), New Jersey. She manages a department of approximately 125 law enforcement and civilian personnel.

Director Quovella M. Spruill recently retired from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office in Newark, New Jersey as the first female Chief of Detectives. She is a graduate of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) graduating with an Engineering Degree in Environmental Science; and she obtained a master’s degree from Seton Hall University majoring in Human Resources Training and Development. She was one of the youngest managers in the City of Newark, during that period she was recognized as one of Ebony magazine’s “30 Future Leaders Under 30”.

Director Spruill served over thirty years in government and law enforcement. During her tenure in the Prosecutor’s Office, she commanded and served in multiple units, including Internal Affairs, Corruption, Bias Crimes, Homicide, Training and many other assignments.

She is an adjunct professor at Rutgers University and DeVry University, instructing courses in Criminal Justice and Human Resources.

Director Spruill has extensive experience in consulting and training for law enforcement recruits, municipal law enforcement, corrections, within New Jersey and out of state law enforcement personnel. As a tireless public servant and a trailblazer, Director Spruill has been tasked with serving her community in a variety of capacities as she continues to smash those glass ceilings!

The Workshop

When Good People Write Bad Policy: Discriminatory Bans and Prohibitions Don’t Work : Wednesday, October 04, 2023 10:30A

Several states and municipalities are proposing to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. Smoking is bad and tobacco kills in addition to the debilitating effects of nicotine addiction and need to prevent youth from smoking. Prohibitions and flavor bans have been spotlights in the national media. This proposal seems race-neutral. But over 85% of African Americans who choose to smoke prefer menthol cigarettes while most White tobacco consumers prefer unflavored tobacco. To draw up a ban only against products favored by people of color seems not only unjust but also remarkably insensitive. Giving officers even more reason to detain and engage on the basis of a flavored tobacco ban, including menthol, would assuredly lead to encounters that are likely to escalate to the unnecessary use of force, arrests, and possibly deadly force.

The unintended consequences of bans and prohibitions need to be better understood by public policymakers contemplating passing legislation that will directly impact the interactions between members of communities of color and law enforcement officers. This session will explore the laudable intent of the public health community to decrease the use of tobacco products by communities of color, address the serious concerns of youth using tobacco products, and how to stem the tide of youth use of e-cigarettes, and will expound on the lived experiences and expertise of leading Black law enforcement professionals on the unintended consequences of bans and prohibitions.