Sure, FAMS have creds.
No idea on the latter. I have friends and family who are currently local cops in NJ, none of them are pricks who would go out of their way to give any out-of-state or federal LEO a hard time. I've worked with NJ State Troopers and none of them were jerks to us, but a lot of working relationships I've noticed so far depend on how you're introduced to each other.
I wouldn't class NJ State Troopers as any more ornery than State Troopers from any state tend to be.
Well, you'd think, and to a reasonable person, yes.
However, your creds only cover you to possess what your agency authorizes. So, if someone wanted to push the issue you can theoretically find yourself in a situation like @
jnc36rcpd 's acquaintance. My only speculation is that you had two people that weren't getting along, and possible a Troop that wanted to push whatever they could that particular day, and figured, "Bullshit, why the fuck would a FAM have an issued long gun" only failing to know that the FAMS, at one point, had tactical teams (GRT: Global Response Team, tasked with aircraft recapture) equipped with HK416s ( @
jlw )...and he guessed wrong thinking the FAM was bluffing.
What's funny though is that's not the first adversarial interaction I've heard about between FAMS and NJSP. I've heard two other stories, one from a Newark FAM, and the other from a NJ State Trooper who couldn't figure out why a FAM was being formal and "stiff" on a traffic stop as if he was waiting for the Trooper to jack him up.
IDK......maybe there's some bad blood up there between the Newark FAMS Office and NJSP. I honestly haven't a clue, but I'd guess that's not the case because Newark FAMS invites NJSP to invite-only training sessions. The ones I worked with were all cool, and half of my office carried 18 round mags in our SIGs and talked "shop" with Troopers while ramp-side with never a threatening or disparaging comment. When agents would ask Troopers if the Mankiller 3000 black rifle they moved into the state with from elsewhere was legal, I never heard a response other than, "Nah dude, nobody is going to hassle you."
Like I said earlier, there's assholes and idiots everywhere. I'm guessing that sometimes the stars align just right for you to meet that special guy who is feeling particularly feisty that day. I'd encourage everyone to meet any NJ State Trooper with the same enthusiasm and friendly demeanor you would any other LEO.