Bill Text: NJ S2624 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes database containing information on traffic stops by certain law enforcement officers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-29 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [S2624 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S2624-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes database containing information on traffic stops by certain law enforcement officers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the collection of data from traffic stops and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Attorney General shall establish and maintain a central, searchable database of information pertaining to traffic law enforcement by State and local law enforcement officers.
b. Information contained within the database shall be subject to potential disclosure under P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), known commonly as the open public records act.
c. The database shall be publicly available on the website of the Department of Law and Public Safety.
d. The Attorney General may promulgate guidelines to effectuate the provisions of this act.
2. All State and local police shall submit a quarterly report to the Attorney General containing the following information which shall be entered in the database established in section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
a. The number of drivers stopped for routine traffic enforcement by law enforcement officers, the officer making each stop, the date each stop was made, the law enforcement agency of the officer making each stop, and whether or not a citation or warning was issued;
b. Identifying characteristics of the drivers stopped, including the race or ethnicity, approximate age, and gender;
c. The alleged traffic violation that led to the stop;
d. Whether a search was instituted as a result of the stop;
e. Whether the vehicle, personal effects, driver, or passenger were searched, and the race or ethnicity, approximate age, and gender of each person searched;
f. Whether the search was conducted pursuant to consent, probable cause, or a warrant, including the basis for the request for consent, the circumstances establishing probable cause, or the basis for the warrant;
g. Whether any contraband was found and the type and amount of any such contraband;
h. Whether any written citation or any oral or written warning was issued as a result of the stop;
i. Whether an arrest was made as a result of either the stop or the search;
j. Whether any property was seized, with a description of that property;
k. Whether the officers making the stop encountered any physical resistance from the driver or a passenger;
l. Whether the officers making the stop engaged in the use of force against the driver or a passenger for any reason;
m. Whether any injuries resulted from the stop;
n. Whether the circumstances surrounding the stop were the subject of any investigation, and the results of that investigation;
o. The geographic location of the stop; if the officer making the stop is a member of the New Jersey State Police, the location shall be the field operation section, including troop and station; for all other law enforcement officers, the location shall be the municipality and county in which the stop was made.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the Attorney General to establish a public, searchable database of information pertaining to traffic law enforcement by State and local law enforcement officers.
The information entered in the database will include the driver's identifying characteristics, such as race or ethnicity, approximate age, and gender and will pertain to all interactions with traffic law enforcement, even those stops that result only in an oral warning.
The wide range of specific information contained within this database will allow for increased public oversight of traffic law enforcement practices by providing a tool to prevent pernicious enforcement of these laws, including racial and gender profiling.
