Bill Text: NJ A3560 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Concerns false public alarms involving places of worship.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-6)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-05 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A3560 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A3560-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns false public alarms involving places of worship.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning false public alarms involving places of worship, and amending N.J.S.2C:33-3 and P.L.1999, c.195.
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. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in 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, crime, catastrophe, emergency, or any other incident 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.
(b) A person is guilty of a crime of the second degree if the false alarm involves a report or warning of an impending bombing, hostage situation, person armed with a deadly weapon as defined by subsection c. of N.J.S.2C:11-1, or any other incident that elicits an immediate or heightened response by law enforcement or emergency services.
(c) A person is guilty of a crime of the second degree if the false alarm involves a report or warning about any critical infrastructure located in this State. For purposes of this subparagraph, "critical infrastructure" means any building, place of assembly, or facility that is indispensably necessary for national security, economic stability, or public safety.
(d) A person is guilty of a crime of the second degree if the false alarm involves a report or warning about any church, synagogue, temple or other place of worship. For purposes of this subparagraph, "place of worship" means a building capable of seating more than 50 people used primarily as a place of public or private worship on a permanent basis by a recognized and established religious sect or denomination registered as a not-for-profit organization pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. s.501 (c) (3).
(2) A person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he knowingly causes the 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 crime of the third degree if the person knowingly places a call to a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system with purpose to intimidate or harass an individual or group of individuals because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity.
All local and county law enforcement authorities shall submit an annual report, on a form prescribed by the Attorney General, to the Uniform Crime Reporting Unit, within the Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety, or to another designated recipient determined by the Attorney General, containing the number and nature of offenses under this section committed within their respective jurisdictions and the disposition of these offenses. Every two years, the Uniform Crime Reporting Unit or other designated recipient of the annual reports shall forward a summary of all reports received during the preceding two-year period, along with a summary of offenses investigated by the Division of State Police for the same period, to the State's Office of Emergency Management.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.73, s.2)
2. Section 3 of P.L.1999, c.195 (C.2C:33-3.2) is amended to read as follows:
3. a. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, [Any] any person who violates the provisions of N.J.S.2C:33-3 shall be liable for a civil penalty of not less than $2,000 or actual costs incurred by or resulting from the law enforcement and emergency services response to the false alarm, whichever is higher.
(2) Any person who violates the provisions of N.J.S.2C:33-3 as it relates to any church, synagogue, temple or other place of worship shall be liable for a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 or actual costs incurred by or resulting from the law enforcement and emergency services response to the false alarm, whichever is higher.
b. Any monies collected pursuant to this section shall be made payable to the municipality or other entity providing the law enforcement or emergency services response to the false alarm.
c. For the purposes of this section:
"Emergency services" includes, but is not limited to, paid or volunteer fire fighters, paramedics, members of an ambulance team, rescue squad or mobile intensive care unit.
"Person" excludes a juvenile as defined in section 3 of P.L.1982, c.77 (C.2A:4A-22).
(cf: P.L.2021, c.342, s.4)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a second degree crime for false public alarms when the alarm involves a church, synagogue, temple, or other place of public worship.
The bill defines "place of worship" as a building capable of seating more than 50 people used primarily as a place of public or private worship on a permanent basis by a recognized and established religious sect or denomination.
Finally, the bill provides for additional penalties for false alarms as it relates to churches, synagogues, temples, or other places of worship. A person committing such a violation is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 or the actual costs incurred by or resulting from the emergency response to the false alarm, whichever is higher.
A second degree crime is punishable by a term of 5-10 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $150,000, or both.
