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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.

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Monmouth Beach is a borough in Monmouth County directly bordered by Long Branch, Sea Bright, Oceanport, and West Long Branch. It has a population of about 4,000 and is directly accessible by Route 36 and Ocean Avenue. As it is located directly on the Jersey Shore, Monmouth Beach sees a significant increase in the amount of activity on its roads, beaches, bars, and restaurants each year as summer approaches. These growing summer crowds, while full of well intentioned individuals, can pose many difficulties to local law enforcement, whose task it is to make sure the quiet and peaceful nature of Monmouth Beach is preserved year round. There is normally an increase in the amount of disorderly persons offenses in Monmouth Beach, motor vehicle violations in Monmouth Beach, and DWI charges in Monmouth Beach during the summer months.

Disorderly persons offenses refer to a broad category of offenses, with some of the more common being disorderly conduct (N.J.S. 2C:33-2), trespass (N.J.S. 2C: 18-3), criminal mischief (N.J.S. 2C: 17-3), simple assault (N.J.S. 2C: 12-1), use or possession of a fake ID (N.J.S. 2C: 28-7), underage drinking (N.J.S. 2C:33-15), possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia (N.J.S. 2C:35-10 and N.J.S. 2C: 36-2), and resisting arrest (N.J.S. 2C:29-2). Being convicted of such a disorderly persons offense in Monmouth Beach can lead to repercussions including jail time, significant monetary fines, and community service. There were 17 disorderly persons offenses in Monmouth Beach last year.

Motor vehicle violations are common in Monmouth Beach and refer to a broad spectrum of offenses. Some of the lesser moving violations include such offenses as speeding, failure to maintain lanes, illegal turns, failure to stop, and reckless or careless driving. Even being convicted of one of these seemingly trivial charges can lead to the assessment of motor vehicle points on your driver's license, and significant monetary fines.

The more severe New Jersey drunk driving violations include DWI, DUI and Refusal. A first time offender convicted of a DUI, DWI, or Refusal faces penalties including monetary fines over $500.00, loss of their driver's license for up to one year, jail time, the installation of an ignition interlock device into their vehicle, and enrollment into an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center program. Subsequent offenses will lead to more severe penalties and penalties are doubled if the offense takes place in a school zone, regardless of the time of day it occurs. Last year, there were 366 moving violations in Monmouth Beach and 32 DWIs in Monmouth Beach.

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