Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Supplemental appropriation of $2,000,000 to New Jersey Division of State Police for purchase of mobile surveillance towers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Supplement to the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, P.L.2021, c.133.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. In addition to the amounts appropriated under P.L.2021, c.133, the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, there is appropriated from the General Fund the following amount for the purpose specified:
66 DEPARTMENT OF LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY
10 Public Safety and Criminal Justice
12 Law Enforcement
1200 Division of State Police
DIRECT STATE SERVICES
06-1200 Division of State Police ....................................... $2,000,000
Total Direct State Services Appropriation,
Law Enforcement ............................................. $2,000,000
Direct State Services:
06 Special Purpose,.................................... ($2,000,000)
Division of State Police Mobile Surveillance Towers
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This supplemental appropriation provides $2 million for the purchase of mobile surveillance towers by the Division of State Police (DSP) in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
These mobile surveillance towers will be utilized in New Jersey communities when the DSP is deployed to assist with crowd control. Mobile surveillance towers will provide the DSP with an unobstructed 360° degree view to provide maximum coverage during large scale events and unpermitted mass gatherings.
On May 21, 2022 the municipality of Long Branch, New Jersey experienced an unpermitted mass gathering after a social media posting drew large crowds that authorities said threatened public safety. First responders reportedly included the Long Branch Police Department, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (MOCERT), Monmouth and Middlesex Rapid Deployment Forces (RDF), Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, New Jersey State Police, Department of Corrections, and NJ Transit Police. Last summer, there were several similar situations of large-scale pop-up parties in the same area of the State.
These unpermitted mass gatherings affect not only public safety when not patrolled effectively, but also affect the economic wellbeing of shore businesses who rely on visitors to the New Jersey shore during the summer season.