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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.

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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!" »

Now that summer is in full swing and the new school year is fast approaching, house parties with large crowds of young adults seem to be a common occurrence. If the party produces a lot of noise so as to distract and disrupt the neighbors from the quiet enjoyment of their own property, the police will inevitably be called to respond to a noise ordinance complaint. The officer's actions during the response call must be put under scrutiny as he/she could have violated 4th Amendment rights protecting against illegal search and seizure.

Recently, in the New Jersey Appellate Division case of State v. Kaltner, a group of Monmouth University students all living together in an off campus house in Long Branch (not affiliated with the University) decided to throw a party. The party became loud enough to disturb the neighbors who responded by calling the Long Branch Police. Once the police arrived and knocked at the door, a partygoer opened the door and invited them to step in. Once inside, Long Branch Police Officers began searching for the residents of the home so that they could instruct them to keep the noise level down. The officers split up and scattered throughout the house. One officer in particular ventured upstairs and began looking around. The lone officer testified that while upstairs he noticed a controlled dangerous substance that he recognized from his training as well as other drug paraphernalia. The officer confiscated the drugs and arrested the individual who owned them. At trial, the judge opined that the search performed by the Long Branch Police Officer was in fact violative of the 4th Amendment's protection against illegal search and seizure thus not allowing the evidence collected as a result of that search to be admitted at trial.

On appeal, the three-judge Appellate Panel agreed and affirmed the lower court ruling with clear deference to the 4th Amendment. Because the Long Branch Police Officers were invited inside the house, the question or issue that the Appellate Division needed to decide was whether or not the Police acted lawfully in fanning out to find the people within the house that were responsible for throwing the party which is how the illegal drugs were discovered.

A number of arguments were raised by the State. In particular, a general "community caretaking" argument posed an interesting debate in the case. The Appellate Division judges deduced that this case turned on whether "the objective reasonableness of the police action in executing their service function" was satisfied. The court ruled that fanning out to find the people responsible for the party was not objectively reasonable because there was no need to do so. There were numerous partygoers that could have sought the responsible party for the officers along with a number of other approaches. The goal of the police visit was to abate the nuisance, not to search the house for the homeowner. Given those circumstances, the judges ruled that the search was unlawful. In a clear manner calculated to avoid a brightline rule, the Court limited its opinion to the case at hand claiming that each search and seizure case must be decided on a case-by-case basis to determine if the police were in fact objectively reasonable.

Continue reading "Are You Facing Criminal Charges From A House Party: Discuss Your Case With An Experienced NJ Criminal Defense Attorney. Recent NJ Appellate Division Opinion May Provide a Defense To Your Charges. " »

Long Branch, New Jersey, is one of the largest and oldest cities on the New Jersey shore and is easily accessible through Route 36, Route 71, and the New Jersey Transit train and bus lines. After many years of urban decay, Long Branch is now enjoying a rebirth. Most notably, Long Branch and Monmouth County have heavily invested in Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park, a sprawling 33 acres of land for picnicking, swimming, and boating. Long Branch has also dedicated much time to maintaining and improving their famous boardwalk. With so much attention focused upon luring vacationers to its many parks and beaches, Long Branch experiences a large population increase as the summer season begins. This increase is typically accompanied by a crackdown by local law enforcement, resulting in larger numbers of motor vehicle violations, disorderly persons offenses, and DWI charges in Long Branch.

Last year alone, Long Branch saw 2,480 moving violations, 98 DWI's, and 349 disorderly persons offenses. While penalties for moving violations such as speeding and not yielding to pedestrians can be very expensive themselves, more serious motor vehicle violations, such as DWI, DUI, and Refusal, carry penalties that can have extremely far reaching and crippling consequences. Disorderly person offenses, which may result from a range of activities including disorderly conduct (N.J.S. 2C: 33-2), trespass (N.J.S. 2C: 18-3) and assault (N.J.S. 2C:12-1), are also very serious and can result in monetary fines, restitution payments, and imprisonment, and may impede an individual's ability to find employment later on in life.

For further information on the Long Branch City Municipal Court, visit their website at:
http://www.visitlongbranch.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=60&Itemid=71

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