New Jersey Criminal Lawyers Blog

"Bamboozle" Will Significantly Increase Population In Asbury Park

According to CBS New York, "Tens of thousands of music fans will descend on Asbury Park this weekend for the Bamboozle Festival, a three-day event described by promoters as the largest beach concert in the United States this year." Due to the large number of fans heading to Asbury Park to see their favorite bands, there will most likely be crowd control issues and the laws on marijuana in NJ may come into effect.

What Are the Laws on Marijuana In NJ?

Quite simply, if you are caught with less than 50 grams of marijuana you will face penalties as a disorderly person, which may include jail time, fines, and possible community service. The laws on marijuana in NJ do NOT treat the offender as a criminal if caught with less than 50 grams. However, if you are caught with over 50 grams of marijuana, you can be charged with an indictable criminal offense and face much more severe penalties. 50 grams of marijuana is a large amount and you will most likely not be carrying that much at Bamboozle, but it is important to remember that any amount of marijuana found will result in detention, fines, and other penalties.

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Contact a Seaside Heights Criminal Defense Attorney if you need help.
Police officers throughout Ocean and Monmouth County are now using a new device that can scan passersby vehicle license plate numbers in a second and instantly provide the status of your vehicle and information about its owner. With 6 cameras mounted on the roof of the "reader car", information is instantly sent to the dashboard computer screen. If a vehicle warrants stopping, such as a outstanding warrant for arrest, an alert beeps and the officer can initiate a motor vehicle stop. The legality of the instruments usage has already been approved in a recent case, State v. Donis, that held that a police officer may randomly check the status of a vehicle registration or driver's license and whether the vehicle or its plates are stolen. According to one source, there are approximately 1.5 million unregistered or unlicensed vehicles in the State of New Jersey.
The scanners have powerful uses for crimes other then motor vehicle violations enforcement. Each scanner saves the data of license plate numbers it has read. If for example, bank robbers are casing a place for several hours beforehand their plates may be picked up by a police camera. Police are able to fetch this data many days later if need be as evidence to help establish probable cause and other elements of the crime.

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The everyday traffic stop by a police officer has recently taken a drastic new turn. Implementation of tiny personal cameras pinned onto every police officer in Sea Girt Jersey is sure to create vibrations that will be felt for decades to come throughout New Jersey courtrooms. Created by Axon System the mini cameras are mounted on a headband, eyeglasses, or clipped to the collar of police and are able to record up to six hours of an officer at work. When video is recorded, it is wirelessly uploaded to a website, evidence.com, where it is available for retrieval by an officer with the proper authority. This groundbreaking implementation of technology, already used in Western States, is hoped to lead to better overall law enforcement procedure. In today's highly litigious society where even a simple traffic stop may end up in municipal court, this new upgrade will have untold effects.

The new technology will cost the Sea Girt Police Department about $2,000 per system and $1,200 in annual cost for data storage per unit. Sea Girt, with only 11 police officers, is the first of New Jersey's 566 municipalities to implement the mini cameras but already officials in Morristown and Cape May County have indicated their intent to have them soon. This new technology is possibly a response to the current trend of motor vehicle drivers recording snippets of their traffic stop with a cell phone. Rather than having only 10 seconds of recording, the longer videos will provide greater insight into the specifics of what happened.

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Asbury Park, New Jersey is a very unique city located directly on the water and easily accessible via Route 33, Route 35, Route 71 and also New Jersey Transit trains and buses. A city of about 17,000, Asbury Park is currently undergoing extensive revitalization and boasts a beautifully kept boardwalk, a beach consistently ranked quite high in state surveys, and several live music venues including The Stone Pony, The Saint, Wonder Bar, and Asbury Lanes. Asbury Park also is also home to popular bars such as Langosta Lounge, Johnny Mac's, Brickwall Tavern, Watermark, D'Jais, Paradise, and many others.

As summer approaches, the crowds in Asbury Park quickly grow as residents and vacationers flock towards the beaches and other seasonal attractions. Faced with the challenge of maintaining control and order over these growing crowds, the Asbury Park Police have notoriously cracked down during the summer months, tightening up already rigid regulations. Last year alone, there were 1,295 disorderly persons offenses in Asbury Park, 2,974 traffic violations, and 89 DWI's. Disorderly persons charges are among the most common in Asbury Park and include disorderly conduct, underage drinking, use or possession of a fake ID, simple assault, possession of illegal drugs, criminal mischief, and resisting arrest. Penalties can be quite severe and may include hefty monetary fines, payment of restitution, community service, and jail time.

For more information on Asbury Park Municipal Court, visit:
http://cityofasburypark.com/component/content/article/75

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