ASSEMBLY, No. 2205

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED JUNE 27, 1996

By Assenblywoman GILL and Assemblyman CHARLES

An Act concerning immunities for law enforcement officers under certain circumstances, amending N.J.S.59:5-2 and supplementing chapter 5 of Title 59 of the New Jersey Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. N.J.S.59:5-2 is amended to read as follows:

    59:5-2. Parole or escape of prisoner; injuries between prisoners.

    [Neither] Except as provided in section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as section 2 of this bill), neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for:

    a. An injury resulting from the parole or release of a prisoner or from the terms and conditions of his parole or release or from the revocation of his parole or release.

    b. any injury caused by:

    (1) an escaping or escaped prisoner;

    (2) an escaping or escaped person; or

    (3) a person resisting arrest; or

    (4) a prisoner to any other prisoner.

(cf: N.J.S.59:5-2).

    2. (New section) a. A public employee is not liable for an injury resulting from or caused by a law enforcement officer's motor vehicle pursuit of a fleeing suspect if the law enforcement officer complied with the guidelines or policy adopted by the Attorney General concerning motor vehicle pursuits. For purposes of the "New Jersey Tort Claims Act," N.J.S.59:1-1 et seq., a law enforcement officer's failure to comply with such guidelines or policy shall constitute willful misconduct.

    b. Notwithstanding the provisions of the "New Jersey Tort Claims Act", N.J.S.59:1-1 et seq. or any other law, a public entity is liable for an injury resulting from or caused by a law enforcement officer's motor

vehicle pursuit of a fleeing suspect if the law enforcement officer acted negligently.

    3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill amends the "New Jersey Tort Claims Act," N.J.S.59:1-1 et seq., to provide that a law enforcement officer involved in a motor vehicle pursuit will not be liable for injuries arising out of that pursuit if the officer acted in compliance with the Attorney General's guidelines or policy for law enforcement pursuits. However, the bill also provides that the public entity that employs the officer will be liable if the officer acted negligently.

    The current Attorney General guidelines, issued in 1993 and entitled the "New Jersey Police Vehicular Pursuit Policy," describe the manner and circumstances in which law enforcement officers may resort to high speed driving tactics in order to pursue and apprehend a fleeing suspect while minimizing the risk to bystanders.

    Under the bill, the immunity from liability granted to law enforcement officers who conduct motor vehicle pursuits according to the guidelines would not extend to public entities, so that bystanders would be entitled to reimbursement for their injuries from the public entities under these circumstances.

    Pursuant to recent rulings by the New Jersey Supreme Court, (see Tice v. Cramer, 133 N.J. 347 (1993) and Fielder v. Stonack, 141 N.J. 101 (1995)), police officers are subject to liability for injuries to bystanders arising out of a motor vehicle pursuit only if the officers act with "willful misconduct." Thus, the Court held, police officers are absolutely immune from liability for injuries to bystanders even when the injuries would not have occurred but for the officers' negligence.    This bill would modify the Court's rulings in this regard, holding that law enforcement officers are immune from liability only when they have complied with the Attorney General's guidelines or policy concerning motor vehicle chases. The bill specifies that failure to follow the Attorney General's guidelines or policy concerning motor vehicle chases constitutes "willful misconduct," which would make the officers liable.

Clarifies law enforcement officers' immunity from liability for injuries arising out of motor vehicle pursuits.