Bill Text: NJ A2348 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes calls to psychiatric emergency screening centers for purposes other than emergency mental health concerns as petty disorderly persons offense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A2348 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A2348-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes calls to psychiatric emergency screening centers for purposes other than emergency mental health concerns as petty disorderly persons offense.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain telephone calls to psychiatric emergency screening services centers and amending N.J.S.2C:33-3.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.2C:33-3 is amended to read as follows:
2C:33-3. False Public Alarms. a. Except as provided in subsection b. or c. of this section, a person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he initiates or circulates a report or warning of an impending fire, explosion, bombing, crime, catastrophe or emergency knowing that the report or warning is false or baseless and that it is likely to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transport, or to cause public inconvenience or alarm. A person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he knowingly causes such false alarm to be transmitted to or within any organization, official or volunteer, for dealing with emergencies involving danger to life or property.
b. A person is guilty of a crime of the second degree if in addition to the report or warning initiated, circulated or transmitted under subsection a. of this section, he places or causes to be placed any false or facsimile bomb in a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transport or in a place likely to cause public inconvenience or alarm. A violation of this subsection is a crime of the first degree if it occurs during a declared period of national, State or county emergency.
c. A person is guilty of a crime of the second degree if a violation of subsection a. of this section in fact results in serious bodily injury to another person or occurs during a declared period of national, State or county emergency. A person is guilty of a crime of the first degree if a violation of subsection a. of this section in fact results in death.
d. For the purposes of this section, "in fact" means that strict liability is imposed. It shall not be a defense that the death or serious bodily injury was not a foreseeable consequence of the person's acts or that the death or serious bodily injury was caused by the actions of another person or by circumstances beyond the control of the actor. The actor shall be strictly liable upon proof that the crime occurred during a declared period of national, State or county emergency. It shall not be a defense that the actor did not know that there was a declared period of emergency at the time the crime occurred.
e. A person is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree if the person knowingly places a call to a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system without purpose of reporting the need for 9-1-1 service.
f. A person is guilty of a petty disorderly persons offense if the person knowingly places a call to a psychiatric emergency screening services center without purpose of obtaining the emergency mental services afforded by that center, or information relating to those services.
(cf: P.L.2002, c.26, s.16)
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month following enactment.
STATEMENT
Under this bill, it would be a petty disorderly persons offense to knowingly place a call to a psychiatric emergency screening services center for a purpose other than that of obtaining the emergency mental heath services offered by the center, or information relating to those services.
Forcing staff to respond to calls not related to emergency mental health services, or information relating to such services, places a burden on a center's staff and their ability to respond to real emergencies and could, quite possibly, contribute to a tragedy.
A petty disorderly persons offense is punishable by imprisonment for a term of not more than 30 days; a fine of not more than $500; or both.
