NJ Car Theft Bills Advance, Despite Protests From Advocates

NEW JERSEY — A package of “tough on crime” bills aimed at combatting car thefts in New Jersey has advanced in the state Legislature, Senate Democrats announced Tuesday – but not everyone is happy about it.

The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee approved several proposed laws this week, which lawmakers said have a common goal: “to counter the surge of auto thefts and related crimes in New Jersey.”

The proposed laws – which each have companion bills in the state Assembly – target a range of criminal activities, including auto theft networks, the use of juveniles by ringleaders, home burglaries and the use of so-called “master keys” to steal vehicles. Read more about each below.

The bills’ sponsors in the Senate include Joseph Lagana, Vin Gopal, Paul Sarlo and Richard Codey.

“In recent years, our communities have been plagued with a surge of car thefts, with the thefts primarily being done by repeat offenders,” said Codey, a former governor of New Jersey who now represents the state’s 27th district.

“These are sophisticated, well-financed, well-organized business operations – more or less corporations,” added Codey, who represents Clifton, Livingston, Millburn, Montclair, Roseland and West Orange.

“If we want to get serious about busting up these operations and making headway on car thefts, we must go after the captains of these rings, and not merely be content with arresting the teenage perpetrators who may be in their service,” he added.

• See Related: Democrat, GOP Lawmakers Say NJ Car Thefts Are An 'Epidemic'

The package of bills are seeing vocal pushback from several social justice groups, however.

Nonprofit advocacy group New Jersey Institute For Social Justice (NJISJ) is among the critics bashing the “tough on crime” bills, calling them “backwards-thinking.”

“These bills increase penalties and crime classifications for acts including drug possession, burglary (violent crime has been decreasing) and auto theft (which has also been declining),” the nonprofit said last week in advance of Monday’s hearings.

“What we don’t see are needed bills to invest in our communities with creative and proven programs to support young people and adults and keep them out of the criminal justice system in the first place,” the NJISJ added.

• See Related: NJ Needs To Invest In People – Not Lock Them Up, Activists Say

In December, the ACLU of New Jersey and more than two dozen other New Jersey-based groups submitted a letter to the members of the state Senate and Assembly, “strongly opposing” a wave of legislation that they say will “roll back successful criminal legal reforms and lead to the mass incarceration spike seen in the 1980 and 1990s.” Read the full letter here.

“While there have been increases in some types of crime nationally and in [our state], New Jersey’s crime rate increase remains smaller than the national average,” they said. “What this shows is that too often, fears about public safety are not grounded in accurate, complete data.”

“Here are the facts: ‘tough on crime’ policies aren't based on evidence, data or justice,” the ACLU-NJ said. “They rely on biased and inaccurate claims, as well as long-exploited racial tropes, for political gains at an enormous human cost. Sadly, candidates, police, and politicians are exploiting concerns about safety to undermine proven, evidence-based policies that would address these very concerns.”

• See Related: Blizzard Of 'Tough On Crime' Bills In NJ Is Bad News, Advocates Argue

According to Senate Democrats, here are the bills approved by the budget committee on Monday.

S2284/S3389 – “This bill, sponsored by Senators Sarlo, Lagana and Gopal, would establish separate statutory provisions for the existing crimes of theft of a motor vehicle and knowingly receiving stolen property that is a motor vehicle, and provide for extended sentences for certain persistent offenders. Based on State Police testimony given at a hearing in the State Assembly, advocates argue that the separate statutory provision for motor vehicle thefts and the ability for prosecutors to pursue extended terms of imprisonment for repeat offenders would greatly assist prosecutors and law enforcement in responding to the increase in auto thefts across the State.”

S3006/S3345 – “This bill, sponsored by Senator Codey and Senator Bucco, would establish the crimes of participant in an auto theft trafficking network and persistent auto theft trafficking offender, and upgrade auto theft trafficking crimes that involve a juvenile. Under this bill, a recruiter in an auto theft trafficking network would also be considered a leader of the network. It would upgrade the crime of leader of an auto theft trafficking network to a crime of the first degree, if, in the course of network’s conduct, the leader uses, solicits, directs, hires, employs, or recruits a person 17 years of age or younger to actively participate in the network.”

S3390 – “This bill, sponsored by Senator Gopal, would expand criminal penalties related to illegal use of a motor vehicle ‘master key.’ This bill amends current law to make it a fourth degree crime for a person to knowingly possess for an unlawful purpose a key fob that operates a vehicle owned by another person or possess a computer program commonly used to start a motor vehicle without an ignition key or key fob.”

S3346 – “In addition to the car theft bills going through the budget committee, this related bill, sponsored by Senator Sarlo and Senator Lagana, which would upgrade the crime of burglary of a residence to a crime of the second degree, passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This bill responds to the increasing reports of thieves breaking into residences to steal keys and key fobs in order to steal cars.”

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