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.

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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!" »

West Long Branch is a small borough in Monmouth County surrounded by Eatontown, Oceanport, Long Branch, and Ocean Township. It is directly accessible through Route 36, Route 71, and Monmouth Road. As the home of Monmouth University, West Long Branch houses a considerable number of college students throughout the year and even though many of them leave for the summer, they are soon replaced with vacationers from along the east coast, eager to take advantage of West Long Branch's close proximity to the beach.

This young and energetic population full of college students and beach goers needs to become increasingly careful during summer months, as local law enforcement begin to dole out larger numbers of moving violations, DWI charges, and disorderly person charges in an effort to maintain public order and control. Last year in West Long Branch, 928 moving violations were handed out along with 52 DWI's, and 109 disorderly persons offenses.

Being charged with a DWI, DUI, or Refusal in West Long Branch can have some extremely serious consequences. Depending on how many prior alcohol related offenses a person has been convicted of and other attendant circumstances including their blood alcohol level, resultant penalties may include monetary fines over $1,000.00, loss of license for up to ten years, mandatory jail time, community service, completing a program at an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center, and the installation of an ignition interlock device.

Disorderly persons charges, including disorderly conduct (N.J.S 2C: 33-2), resisting arrest (N.J.S. 2C: 29-2), assault (N.J.S. 2C: 12-1), criminal mischief (N.J.S. 2C: 17-3) and many others, are also frequent in West Long Branch and can result in hefty monetary fines, detainment, payment of restitution, jail time, and other serious repercussions.

For further information on the West Long Branch Municipal Court, visit their website at:
http://www.westlongbranch.org/departments/municipal-court.php

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