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S3646
SENATE, No. 3646
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator� JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
���� Upgrades crime of false public alarm when act done
knowing it will result in law enforcement response against certain persons.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
upgrading false public alarms under certain
circumstances and amending N.J.S.2C:33-3.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� N.J.S.2C:33-3 is amended
to read as follows:
���� 2C:33-3.� False Public Alarms.
a. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person is guilty of
a crime of the third degree if he initiates or circulates a report or warning
of an impending fire, explosion, crime, catastrophe, emergency, or any other
incident knowing that the report or warning is false or baseless and that it is
likely to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of
public transport, or to cause public inconvenience or alarm. (b) A person is
guilty of a crime of the second degree if the false alarm involves a report or
warning of an impending bombing, hostage situation, person armed with a deadly
weapon as defined by subsection c. of N.J.S.2C:11-1, or any other incident that
elicits an immediate or heightened response by law enforcement or emergency
services.
���� (c)�� A person is guilty of a
crime of the second degree if the false alarm involves a report or warning
about any critical infrastructure located in this State.� For purposes of this
subparagraph, "critical infrastructure" means any building, place of
assembly, or facility that is indispensably necessary for national security,
economic stability, or public safety.
����
(d)�� A person is guilty of
a crime of the second degree if the false alarm is done knowing that it will
result in a law enforcement response against an elected official, any justice
of the Supreme Court, judge of the Superior Court, judge of the Tax Court or municipal
judge, or a law enforcement officer.
���� (2)�� A person is guilty of a
crime of the third degree if he knowingly causes the false alarm to be
transmitted to or within any organization, official or volunteer, for dealing
with emergencies involving danger to life or property.
���� b.��� A person is guilty of a
crime of the second degree if in addition to the report or warning initiated,
circulated or transmitted under subsection a. of this section, he places or
causes to be placed any false or facsimile bomb in a building, place of assembly,
or facility of public transport or in a place likely to cause public
inconvenience or alarm. A violation of this subsection is a crime of the first
degree if it occurs during a declared period of national, State or county
emergency.
���� c.���� A person is guilty of a
crime of the second degree if a violation of subsection a. of this section in
fact results in serious
bodily injury to another person or
occurs during a declared period of national, State or county emergency.� A
person is guilty of a crime of the first degree if a violation of subsection a.
of this section in fact results in death.
���� d.��� For the purposes of this
section, "in fact" means that strict liability is imposed. It shall
not be a defense that the death or serious bodily injury was not a foreseeable
consequence of the person's acts or that the death or serious bodily injury was
caused by the actions of another person or by circumstances beyond the control
of the actor.� The actor shall be strictly liable upon proof that the crime
occurred during a declared period of national, State or county emergency.� It
shall not be a defense that the actor did not know that there was a declared
period of emergency at the time the crime occurred.
���� e.���� A person is guilty of a
crime of the fourth degree if the person knowingly places a call to a 9-1-1
emergency telephone system without purpose of reporting the need for 9-1-1
service.
���� f.���� A person is guilty of a
crime of the third degree if the person knowingly places a call to a 9-1-1
emergency telephone system with purpose to intimidate or harass an individual
or group of individuals because of race, color, religion, gender, disability,
sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or
ethnicity.
���� All local and county law
enforcement authorities shall submit an annual report, on a form prescribed by
the Attorney General, to the Uniform Crime Reporting Unit, within the Division
of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety, or to another
designated recipient determined by the Attorney General, containing the number
and nature of offenses under this section committed within their respective
jurisdictions and the disposition of these offenses.� Every two years, the
Uniform Crime Reporting Unit or other designated recipient of the annual
reports shall forward a summary of all reports received during the preceding
two-year period, along with a summary of offenses investigated by the Division
of State Police for the same period, to the State's Office of Emergency
Management.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.73, s.2)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would upgrade the
crime of false public alarm whenever such false alarm targeted certain
persons.� Specifically, the bill would upgrade the crime of false public alarm
to a crime of the second degree whenever the act was done knowing that it would
result in a law enforcement response against an elected official, any justice
of the Supreme Court, judge of the Superior Court, judge of the Tax Court or
municipal judge, or a law enforcement officer.
���� The crime as upgraded would be
punishable by a term of imprisonment of five to 10 years, a fine of up to
$150,000, or both. Under current law, such an act may be graded as a crime of
the third degree, punishable by a term of imprisonment of three to five years,
a fine of up to $15,000, or both.
���� The responsible party would
also be liable, based on current law, for a civil penalty of $2,000 or the
actual costs incurred by or resulting from the law enforcement and emergency
services response to the false alarm.�
See
P.L.1999, c.195, s.3
(C.2C:33-3.2).
���� According to the sponsor, a
false public alarm that is done knowing it would result in a law enforcement
response against an elected official, justice or judge, or law enforcement
officer represents a deliberate targeting of the makers, interpreters, and
enforcers of our laws.� As such, these acts, sometimes referred to as
�swatting� due to the immediate and often aggressive deployment or use of law
enforcement, should be discouraged by upgrading the crime of false public alarm
when those persons are targeted.