Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DePhillips
SYNOPSIS
Establishes crime of impersonating uniformed professional to further criminal activity.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain crimes and supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A person is guilty of the crime of impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity if that person commits, attempts to commit, or threatens the immediate commission of a crime under Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes while wearing a uniform that falsely purports to be the uniform of a public or private employee or by driving an unauthorized vehicle falsely purporting to belong to a company or organization.
b. Impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity is a crime of the fourth degree if the underlying offense referred to in subsection a. is a disorderly persons offense or petty disorderly persons offense. Otherwise, impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity is a crime one degree higher than the most serious underlying crime referred to in subsection a., except that where the underlying crime is a crime of the first degree, impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity is a first-degree crime and the defendant upon conviction thereof may, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:43-6, be sentenced to an ordinary term of imprisonment between 15 years and 30 years.
c. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:1-8 or any other provision of law, a conviction for impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity shall not merge with a conviction of any of the underlying offenses referred to in subsection a. of this section, nor shall any conviction for such underlying offense merge with a conviction for impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity. The court shall impose separate sentences upon a conviction for impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity and a conviction of any underlying offense.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the
crime of impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity. Under
the bill, a person commits the crime of impersonating a uniformed professional
to further criminal activity if that person commits, attempts to commit, or
threatens the immediate commission of a crime under Title 2C of the New Jersey
Statutes while wearing a uniform that falsely
purports to be the uniform of a public or private employee or by driving an unauthorized vehicle falsely purporting to belong to a company or organization.
The crime of impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity is graded one degree higher than the most serious underlying offense or crime referred to in subsection a. If the underlying offense referred to in subsection a. is a disorderly persons offense or petty disorderly persons offense, then this crime would be a crime of the fourth degree. If the underlying crime is a first degree crime, then impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity is a first-degree crime and the defendant upon conviction may be sentenced to an ordinary term of imprisonment between 15 years and 30 years.
A conviction for impersonating a uniformed professional to further criminal activity and a conviction for an underlying offense would not merge, and the court would impose separate sentences for the convictions.
This legislation was prompted by the killing of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas’ son and the shooting of her husband by a man wearing a FedEx delivery uniform.