New Jersey Criminal Lawyers Blog

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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.

Continue reading "Police In Ocean and Monmouth County Can Scan Your License Plate in a Second With New Technology" »

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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.

Continue reading ""Big Brother" Police in New Jersey Are Watching You!" »

Lavallette, New Jersey is a small beachfront community located on the Barnegat peninsula situated just north of Ortley Beach and south of Dover and Brick Township beaches. Route 35 runs directly through town and is highly traveled with people heading to either Seaside Heights or Point Pleasant Beach for a day of fun at the beach or an evening at one of the local watering holes. Lavallette is just under a square mile of land and has a little over 1,800 year round residents. Since Lavallette is nestled between Seaside Heights and Point Pleasant Beach, the Route 35 corridor creates a great deal of police activity for both motor vehilcle violations and criminal offense.

It is no surprise that Lavallette saw over 60 DWI, DUI, and refusal charges written in 2010. In addition to DWI related offenses, Lavallette saw an estimated 1120 motor vehicle violations in 2010. Motor vehicle violations in Lavallette may include: speeding, failure to yield to a pedestrian, failure to yield to a traffic sign, reckless driving, and careless driving.

56 disorderly persons offenses were written in Lavallette last year. Given the explosion of population during the summer months, disorderly persons offenses are frequently written and can include : criminal mischief (N.J.S. 2C: 17-3), shoplifting (N.J.S. 2C:20-11), simple assault (N.J.S. 2C: 12-1), disorderly conduct (N.J.S. 2C:33-2), underage drinking (N.J.S. 2C:33-15), possession of CDS (N.J.S. 2C:35-10), trespassing (N.J.S. 2C:18-3), and a host of other disorderly persons offenses.

Continue reading "Lavallette Criminal Lawyer: Lavallette Municipal Court" »