Bill Text: NJ A3603 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires law enforcement officers to issue citation by mail for certain motor vehicle violations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A3603 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A3603-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires law enforcement officers to issue citation by mail for certain motor vehicle violations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning motor vehicle violations and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law to the contrary and except as provided in subsections d. and e. of this section, instead of initiating a motor vehicle stop, every State, county, and municipal law enforcement officer shall issue a citation for a violation of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes observed by the law enforcement officer by first class mail to the registered owner of the motor vehicle on a form prescribed by the Administrative Director of the Courts.
b. Any photographs or video from a law enforcement officer's mobile video recording system depicting the alleged violation shall be made available to the registered owner of the motor vehicle.
c. A citation shall be issued and sent by the law enforcement agency to the registered owner of the motor vehicle within seven days from the date on which the alleged violation occurred. Photographs of the alleged violation and information regarding how to access video of the alleged violation pursuant to subsection b. of this section also shall be sent with the citation.
d. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section, every State, county, and municipal law enforcement officer shall initiate a motor vehicle stop, rather than issuing a citation by mail, for the following violations observed by the law enforcement officer:
(1) R.S.39:4-52;
(2) R.S.39:4-85;
(3) R.S.39:4-86;
(4) R.S.39:4-89;
(5) R.S.39:4-96;
(6) section 1 of P.L.2003. c.310 (C.39:4-97.3);
(7) R.S.39:4-98 when the driver exceeds the posted speed limit by 30 miles per hour or more;
(8) R.S.39:4-129; and
(9) R.S.39:4-50.
e. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section, a State, county, or municipal law enforcement officer may initiate a motor vehicle stop following an observed violation of any provision of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes if there is a risk to public safety as a result of the violation. A State, county, or municipal law enforcement officer also may initiate a motor vehicle stop if there is an outstanding warrant for the arrest of the registered owner of the motor vehicle or the law enforcement officer has reasonable cause to believe the driver of the motor vehicle has committed a crime.
f. Except for the offenses set forth in subsection d. of this section, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle which was involved in a violation of a provision of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes was the person who committed the act.
g. The Attorney General shall issue guidelines or directives to effectuate the purposes of this section.
h. As used in this section:
"Citation" means any summons, ticket, or other official document issued by a law enforcement officer for a traffic violation, containing an order which requires the motorist to respond.
"Mobile video recording system" shall have the same meaning as set forth in section 1 of P.L.2014, c.54 (C.40A:14-118.1).
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month after enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires law enforcement officers to issue a citation by mail for certain motor vehicle violations.
Specifically, under the provisions of this bill, instead of initiating a motor vehicle stop, every State, county, and municipal law enforcement officer is required to issue a citation for a motor vehicle violation observed by the law enforcement officer by first class mail to the registered owner of the motor vehicle on a form prescribed by the Administrative Director of the Courts.
The bill provides that any photographs or video from a law enforcement officer's mobile video recording system depicting the alleged violation are to be made available to the registered owner of the motor vehicle.
A citation is required to be issued and sent by the law enforcement agency to the registered owner of the motor vehicle within seven days from the date on which the alleged violation occurred. In addition, photographs of the alleged violation and information regarding how to access video of the alleged violation also are required to be sent with the citation.
Under the bill, law enforcement officers are to initiate a motor vehicle stop for the following motor vehicle violations: 1) racing on a highway; 2) improper passing on right or off the roadway; 3) improper passing in a no passing zone; 4) tailgating; 5) reckless driving; 6) use of a handheld cellphone or electronic communication device while driving; 7) speeding when the driver exceeds the posted speed limit by 30 miles per hour or more; 8) leaving the scene of an accident; and 9) driving while intoxicated.
In addition, the bill provides that a law enforcement officer may initiate a motor vehicle stop following an observed motor vehicle violation if there is a risk to public safety as a result of the violation. A law enforcement officer may also initiate a motor vehicle stop if there is an outstanding warrant for the arrest of the registered owner of the motor vehicle or the law enforcement officer has reasonable cause to believe the driver of the motor vehicle has committed a crime.
Further, under the bill, there is a rebuttable presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle which was involved in a violation of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes was the person who committed the act, with the exception of certain offenses as provided in the bill.
The Attorney General is to issue guidelines or directives to effectuate the provisions of the bill.
According to the sponsor, contactless policing would provide several benefits. It would allow police to police crime and not people. Contactless policing would result in the elimination of millions of motor vehicle stops each year. As the average police stop takes up to 15 minutes, this would free up a law enforcement officer's time to police crime. For example, law enforcement officers now know if a driver's registration and insurance are valid before initiating a motor vehicle stop by performing a simple registration check. As a result, it would not be necessary for a law enforcement officer to initiate a motor vehicle stop in order to issue a citation, but rather the search would reveal the infraction and the officer would be able to issue a citation by mail without initiating an interaction with the driver. The intent of this is to reduce the loss of black lives at the hands of law enforcement officers by using technology to reduce pretextual stops, during which a driver is detained for a minor infraction while law enforcement seek evidence of a more serious crime.
According to the sponsor, community policing creates opportunities for interaction between community members and law enforcement officers, not only in the context of an officer responding to a crime. This results in more interaction in general, but more importantly, more positive interaction. Effective community policing requires altering a law enforcement department's policies, practices, and guiding philosophies.
According to the sponsor, in
analyzing police data of motor vehicle stops, multiple studies have found
support for the "veil of darkness" theory: as the sun sets and it becomes more
difficult to determine the race of the driver, the percentage of black drivers
stopped by law enforcement officers for motor vehicle violations decreases
significantly, with a 10 to 15 percent decrease in many jurisdictions. Often,
these motor vehicle stops of black drivers are pretextual. Sandra Bland was
stopped for failing to signal a turn. Philando Castile was stopped because his
brake light was out, the last of his 52 stops by police. Eric Garner was
stopped for selling loose cigarettes. Duante Wright was stopped for expired tags.
None of these individuals survived their encounters with law enforcement. This
disproportionate targeting of black drivers by the police is the State action
that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted to
address.
