A3748

An Act upgrading the crime of false public alarm under certain circumstances 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. (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.

(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 law enforcement’s use of forcible entry into any place, or use of force or threat of use of force on another person as required or authorized pursuant to chapter 3 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes, or 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 subsections b. and c. of this section, "in fact" means that strict liability is imposed.

(1) It shall not be a defense that law enforcement’s use of forcible entry, or use of force or threat of use of force, or 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.

(2) 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.

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.2015, c.156, s.1)

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would upgrade the crime of false public alarm to a crime of the second degree whenever the act resulted in law enforcement’s use of forcible entry into any place, or use of force or threat of use of force on another person as required or authorized pursuant to chapter 3 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes. The intent of the sponsor is to address the particular form of false public alarm sometimes referred to as “swatting,” in which a false report or warning makes claims of such an especially dangerous or unusual scenario that it results in such a law enforcement response.

Under current law a false public alarm is ordinarily a third degree crime, and can be punishable by a term of imprisonment of three to five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. The responsible party is also liable for a civil penalty of $2,000 or the actual costs incurred by or resulting from the law enforcement and emergency services response to the false alarm. P.L.1999, c.195, s.3 (C.2C:33-3.2).

The crime as upgraded by the bill would be punishable by a term of imprisonment of five to 10 years, a fine of up to $150,000, or both, and the responsible party would remain liable for the above described civil penalty.