ASSEMBLY LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, No. 194

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: MARCH 25, 1996

 

      The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 194 SCS.

      The Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 194 establishes a new criminal offense in the New Jersey Criminal Code--the offense of disarming a law enforcement officer or corrections officer.

      Under the provisions of the bill, a person who knowingly takes or attempts to exercise unlawful control over a firearm or weapon in the possession of a law enforcement officer or a corrections officer at a time when that officer is acting in the performance of his duties and either is in uniform or exhibits evidence of his authority is guilty of a crime of the second degree. A crime of the second degree is punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000, imprisonment for a term between five and ten years, or both.

      The bill elevates the offense to a crime of the first degree (1) if the offender fires or discharges a firearm taken from a law enforcement officer or corrections officer, (2) the offender uses or threatens to use the firearm or weapon against the officer or any other person, or (3) the officer or other person suffers serious bodily injury as a result of the offender's actions. A crime of the first degree is punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000, imprisonment for a term between 10 and 20 years, or both.

      "Serious bodily injury" is defined in the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice (N.J.S.2C:11-1) as "bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ."

      It is the committee's understanding that the current practice is for prosecutors to charge persons who attempt to disarm a law enforcement officer with assault. Any assault against a law enforcement officer is statutorily required to be upgraded to a charge of aggravated assault. Aggravated assault is a crime of the fourth degree. (A crime of the fourth degree is punishable by a fine of not more than $7,500, imprisonment for a term not to exceed 18 months, or both.) If the officer is injured in the assault, it becomes a crime of the third degree. (A crime of the third degree is punishable by a fine of not more than $7,500, imprisonment for a term between three and five years, or both.)

      The provisions of the Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 194 are identical to those of the Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No. 972.