RACIAL AND ETHNIC COMMUNITY CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY IMPACT STATEMENT

ASSEMBLY, No. 3591

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

SUMMARY

Synopsis:

Makes it fourth degree crime to engage in certain tracking and location activities.

INTRODUCTION

The Office of Legislative Services does not develop or maintain source data concerning the criminal justice system in the State. The Office of Legislative Services makes reasonable efforts to obtain data from Executive Branch Departments and the Judiciary. This statement may reflect information provided by the United States Census Bureau, the Administrative Office of the Courts within the Judiciary, the New Jersey Department of Corrections, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, and the Juvenile Justice Commission in the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety. The publicly available data and the data provided by the responding departments and agencies contained within this statement allows for a general overview of the frequencies of events of interest (i.e. arrests, charges, and convictions) for racial and ethnic minorities for the crimes identified herein. This statement does not provide for an in-depth analysis of that data.

Additional data concerning recidivism rates and incarceration rates for the specific crimes addressed within this statement sorted by race and ethnicity is needed in order to make a conclusion on the impacts on racial and ethnic minorities. Additional data concerning the deterrent effects of similar laws of this type is needed to determine the impact on community criminal justice and public safety. It should be noted that the data needed may not currently be collected by the responding departments or agencies or may not exist.[1]

BILL DESCRIPTION

Assembly Bill No. 3591 makes it a crime of the fourth degree for a person, in order to initiate or facilitate an unlawful act, to knowingly install or place, or cause to be installed or placed, an electronic tracking device or tracking application to track or determine the location of another person. A crime of the fourth degree is generally punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

The bill defines an “electronic tracking device” as “any device designed or intended to be used for the sole purpose of tracking the location or movement of a person that reveals its location or movement by the transmission of electronic signals”; and a “tracking application” as “any computer application software installed or otherwise operational on a computer or mobile device that is used to surreptitiously track and transmit to another person the movement or determine the location of the computer or mobile device.”

There would be a permissive inference (for consideration by a jury) that the use of a tracking device or application to conduct surreptitious surveillance of another person was to initiate or facilitate an unlawful act, such as stalking pursuant to N.J.S.A.2C:12-10 or harassment pursuant to N.J.S.A.2C:33-4.

The bill would exempt actions involving State or local government entities and equipment owned, leased, or operated by those entities, as the bill indicates that the provisions which criminalize tracking or location spotting activities would not be applicable to such entities.

The bill also provides that several enumerated parties, and in some cases specific uses tied to those parties, would be deemed to be lawful tracking or location spotting of a person. These parties and their lawful uses would include:

(1) a parent or guardian of a minor child for the purpose of tracking or determining the location of the minor child;

(2) for the purpose of monitoring, tracking, or locating a person who, due to a physical or mental health condition, may be at risk of injury or death;

(3) a person in order to track or locate personal property during a lawful business transaction in which the person’s personal property is in the temporary possession or otherwise under the control of a third party;

(4) a person collecting consumer location data as part of a lawful business practice, so long as the use is disclosed in a terms of use policy, privacy policy, or similar document or form made available to the consumer;

(5) an employer for the purpose of tracking an employee or vehicle used by an employee while engaged in the course of employment when not prohibited by State or federal law or regulation. The bill adds that a failure by an employer to comply with the written notice requirement to use a tracking device in a vehicle used by an employee in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of P.L.2021, c.449 (C.34:6B-22) or failure to comply with any other requirements in order to track an employee or vehicle used by an employee pursuant to another State or federal law or regulation would only be considered a violation of that law or regulation, and not punishable as a crime pursuant to this section; and

(6) any person who has obtained the consent of the person to be tracked or located, which consent would be required to be provided in writing, in the case of an electronic tracking device, or, in the case of a tracking application, by opting-in to or otherwise affirmatively accepting its use.

A person’s consent would be presumed to be revoked if:

- the person who gave consent and the person who obtained consent are spouses, civil union partners, or domestic partners, and one person has filed a petition for divorce, dissolution of the civil union, or termination of the domestic partnership; or

- the person who gave consent or the person who obtained consent has filed an application for a temporary or final restraining order pursuant to the provisions of the “Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991,” N.J.S.A.2C:25-17 et al..

Federal and State Census Information[2]

	Population	Caucasian	African American	Native American/Alaska Native	Asian	Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander	Hispanic	Two or More Races/Other
National Census Estimate	331,450,000	59.3%	13.6%	1.3%	6.1%	0.3%	18.9%	2.9%
State Census Estimate	9,289,000	53.5%	15.3%	0.7%	10.3%	0.1%	21.5%	2.4%

Federal and State Inmate Population Data

	Population	Caucasian	African American	Native American/Alaska Native	Asian	Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander	Hispanic	Two or More Races/Other
Actual Federal Adult Inmate Population[3]	156,241	56.9%	38.8%	2.8%	1.5%	N/A	29.2%	N/A
Actual State Adult Inmate Population[4]	12,978	22%	60.8%	0.0%	1%	N/A	17%	N/A

State Census and State Inmate Population Data

	Population	Caucasian	African American	Native American/Alaska Native	Asian	Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander	Hispanic	Two or More Races/Other
State Census Estimate	9,289,000	53.5%	15.3%	0.7%	10.3%	0.1%	21.5%	2.4%
Actual State Adult Inmate Population[5]	12,978	22%	60.8%	0.0%	1%	N/A	17%	N/A

DATA PROVIDED BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

The following data was provided, as a part of the submission, from the Office of the Attorney General:

Offense Category	Statute Code	STATUTE DESCRIPTION	Am. Indian/ Alaska Native	Asian/ Pac. Islander	Black	Not Provided/ Unknown	White (incl. Hispanic origin)
Assault/Threat/Stalking	2C:12-10	STALKING					1
Assault/Threat/Stalking	2C:12-10B	STALKING-ENGAGE CONDUCT REASONABLE PERSON PUT IN FEAR	2	23	193	33	409
Assault/Threat/Stalking	2C:12-10C	STALKING-STALKING IN VIOLATION OF COURT ORDER	1	4	61	9	148
Assault/Threat/Stalking	2C:12-10D	STALKING-REPEAT OFFENDER AND SAME VICTIM	2	1	18	3	48
Assault/Threat/Stalking	2C:12-10E	STALKING WHILE IMPRISONED/PAROLE/ PROBATION	1	1	6	1	15
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4	HARASSMENT			1
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4.1A(1)	CYBER HARRASS THREATEN INJURY/PHYS HARM TO PERSON/PROP		6	74	8	126
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4.1A(2)	CYBER HARASS SEND/POST OBSCENE MAT W INTENT HARM/FEAR	1	8	73	5	164
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4.1A(3)	CYBER HARASS THREATEN COMMIT CRIME TO PERSON/PROP			15		19
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4A	HARASSMENT-COMM IN MANNER TO CAUSE ALARM	7	73	1,565	186	2,214
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4B	HARASSMENT-STRIKING/OFFENSIVE TOUCHING/THREATS	4	39	585	62	764
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4C	HARASSMENT-ANY OTHER ALARMING CONDUCT	5	27	452	42	734
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4E	HARASSMENT WHILE IMPRISONED/PAROLE/ PROBATION		2	72	2	86

Arrests by Race – 2022, 2023, Q1 2024

Note: The data originates from the arrests of adults (at time of offense) for at least one indictable offense where the individual was Live Scanned.[6] Information includes only events with an arrest date in 2022, 2023, or quarter one of 2024. Only non-expunged charges are included. This information is accessible publicly by county at www.njoag.gov/justicedata. That dashboard allows users to view unique defendants, arrest events, and charges by county and outcome.

Specifications on race categorizations from the Federal Office of Management and Budget did not include a category of Hispanic ethnicity until recently decided revisions, which will be implemented by 2029. New Jersey courts began providing space on the complaint document to capture Hispanic ethnicity in December 2021. However, the ethnicity field lacks a consistent procedure for collection and may conflict from one arrest to another for the same defendant.

Convictions by Race – 2022, 2023, Q1 2024

Offense Category	StatUtE Code	STATUTE DESCRIPTION	GUIlty CONVICT	Am. Indian/ Alaska Native	Asian/ Pac. Islander	Black	Not Provided/ UnkNOWN	White (incl. Hispanic origin)
Assault/ Threat/ Stalking	2C:12-10B	STALKING-ENGAGE CONDUCT REASONABLE PERSON PUT IN FEAR	Y		1	23	7	55
Assault/ Threat/ Stalking	2C:12-10C	STALKING-STALKING IN VIOLATION OF COURT ORDER	Y		2	15	2	39
Assault/ Threat/ Stalking	2C:12-10D	STALKING-REPEAT OFFENDER AND SAME VICTIM	Y		1	1		3
Assault/ Threat/ Stalking	2C:12-10E	STALKING WHILE IMPRISONED/ PAROLE/ PROBATION	Y	1				5
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4.1A(1)	CYBER HARRASS THREATN INJURY/PHYS HARM TO PERSON/PROP	Y			6		2
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4.1A(2)	CYBER HARASS SEND/POST OBSCENE MAT W INT HARM/FEAR	Y			4		17
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4A	HARASSMENT-COMM IN MANNER TO C AUSE ALARM	Y		11	278	39	495
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4B	HARASSMENT-STRIKING/OFFENSIVE TOUCHING/THREATS	Y		6	79	6	116
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4C	HARASSMENT-ANY OTHER ALARMING CONDUCT	Y		4	32	4	89
Disorderly Conduct	2C:33-4E	HARASSMENT WHILE IMPRISONED/ PAROLE/ PROBATION	Y		1	20	3	24

The following response was provided by the Juvenile Justice Commission:

The Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC) does not maintain or have direct access to detailed data on youth arrests, prosecutions, or adjudications (i.e. convictions). The JJC is not a prosecutorial agency. The JJC does not keep racial and ethnic data segregated by crimes for arrests, prosecutions, or adjudications for the juveniles committed to its care.

The Department of Corrections has made available to the public statistical data concerning the State inmate population categorized by race and ethnicity for 2024, which are reflected in the charts on page 3, and offenders by base offense for 2022, 2023, and 2024 in the following charts:

Offenders by Base Offense for 2022

Base Offense	Total		Male Offenders in Other Facilities		Youth Offenders		Adult Diagnostic Treatment Center (ADTC)		Edna Mahan		Halfway Houses, County Jails, St. Francis Hospital
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
TOTAL OFFENDERS	12,492	100%	9,442	100%	1,139	100%	410	100%	408	100%	1,093	100%
Violent Offenses	9,049	72%	7,251	77%	681	60%	410	100%	273	67%	434	40%

Offenders by Base Offense for 2023

Base Offense	Total		Male Offenders in Other Facilities		Youth Offenders		Adult Diagnostic Treatment Center (ADTC)		Edna Mahan		Halfway Houses, County Jails, St. Francis Hospital
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
TOTAL OFFENDERS	13,196	100%	9,133	100%	1,174	100%	402	100%	356	100%	2,131	100%
Violent Offenses	9,343	71%	7,196	79%	708	60%	402	100%	261	73%	776	36%

Offenders by Base Offense for 2024

Base Offense	Total		Male Incarcerated Persons		Edna Mahan		Residential Community Release Program (RCRP), County Jails, Central Medical Unit (CHR)		Interstate Corrections Compact
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Total Offenders	12,978	100%	11,176	100%	386	100%	1,140	100%	276	100%
Violent Offense	9,417	73%	8,445	76%	284	74%	543	48%	145	53%

Note: Violent offenses include homicide, sexual assault, aggravated and simple assault, robbery, kidnapping, other sex offenses, and other person offenses (i.e. terroristic threats, coercion, larceny from a person, death by auto, and negligent manslaughter). Violent offenses grouped as “other sex offenses” include: Criminal Sexual Attempt, Child Pornography, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Prostitution, and Registration Sex Offender.

DATA PROVIDED BY THE JUDICIARY

The following data was provided, as a part of the submission, from the Judiciary:

COUNTY	NUMBER CHARGED	STALKING STATUTE 2C:12-10
		DEGREE 2							DEGREE 3							DEGREE 4
		Asian	Black/ Africa Am	Hispanic	Amer Ind/ Alaska Native	Nat Haw/ Pacific Is	Unkwn/ Missing	White	Asian	Black/ Africa Am	Hispanic	Amer Ind/ Alaska Native	Nat Haw/ Pacific Is	Unkwn/ Missing	White	Asian	Black/ Africa Am	Hispanic	Amer Ind/ Alaska Native	Nat Haw/ Pacific Is	Unkwn/ Missing	White
		A	B	H	I	P	U	W	A	B	H	I	P	U	W	A	B	H	I	P	U	W
ATL	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	5	0	2	2	1	0	0	2
BER	74	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	7	1	0	0	12	6	14	9	0	0	3	18
BUR	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	9	0	5	1	0	0	0	10
CAM	105	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	29	5	0	0	1	43	0	7	4	0	0	0	16
CPM	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
CUM	30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0	0	0	3	0	10	4	0	0	0	6
ESX	53	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2	0	0	0	5	2	18	11	0	0	2	9
GLO	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
HNT	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
HUD	95	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	3	15	0	0	2	6	3	23	23	0	0	5	11
MER	44	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	6	0	0	0	6	2	9	2	0	0	0	10
MID	51	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	3	2	8	15	0	1	0	18
MON	45	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2	0	0	0	13	0	2	5	0	0	2	16
MRS	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	3	2	1	2	0	0	1	9
OCN	44	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	11	0	3	2	0	0	0	26
PAS	31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	0	0	0	4	0	5	11	0	0	0	3
SLM	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	2
SOM	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
SSX	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	6
UNN	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	6	0	7	8	0	0	0	3
WRN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total (STATE)	702	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	63	56	1	0	3	144	17	116	100	1	1	13	179

COUNTY	NUMBER CHARGED	HARASSMENT STATUTE 2C:33-4
		DEGREE 2								DEGREE 3								DEGREE 4
		Asian	Black/ Africa Am	Hispanic	Amer Ind/ Alaska Native	Nat Haw/ Pacfic Is	Unkn/ Missing	White	Asian	Black/ Africa Am	Hispanic	Amer Ind/ Alaska Native	Nat Haw/ Pacific Is	Unkn/ Missing	White	Asian	Black/ Africa Am	Hispanic	Amer Ind/ Alaska Native	Nat Haw/ Pacific Is	Unkn/ Missing	White
		A	B	H	I	P	U	W	A	B	H	I	P	U	W	A	B	H	I	P	U	W
ATL	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	2	2
BER	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	7	0	0	1	5
BUR	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	8	1	0	0	0	5
CAM	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	4	0	0	0	4
CPM	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	6
CUM	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	0	0	1
ESX	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	3	0	0	1	0
GLO	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	5
HNT	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
HUD	30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	13	5	0	1	0	7
MER	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	3	0	0	0	2
MID	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	0	0	0	7
MON	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	3	0	0	0	13
MRS	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	2	0	0	0	7
OCN	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	14
PAS	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	0	0	0	2
SLM	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
SOM	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
SSX	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	8
UNN	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	4	0	0	0	6
WRN	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Total (STATE)	280	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	1	0	0	2	2	6	91	52	0	1	4	100

Note: The demographic information for those persons charged with the offenses listed in the charts above covers the time period of January 1, 2022 through June 28, 2024.  The Data Division of the Administrative Office of the Courts was able to compile this information for charges, not convictions, related to the specific offenses requested.  Additional analysis is required for information pertaining to convictions.  Moreover, the Criminal Practice Division noted that in light of the time frame specified in the request, it is quite likely that there will be a very large population of these cases pending on pretrial. Accordingly, only examining at actual convictions may not capture all of the relevant data.   

Count of Clients on Probation in Each Category of Crime/Degree Since January 1, 2022
ASIAN		BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN					NAT. HAWAIIAN/OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDER		UNKNOWN				WHITE
Ethnicity		Ethnicity					Ethnicity		Ethnicity				Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic		Non-Hispanic		Unknown	Hispanic		Non-Hispanic		Non-Hispanic	Unknown		Hispanic	Non-Hispanic	Unknown	Hispanic
N		N		N	N		N		N	N		N	N	N	N
Crime		Degree
2C:12-10		3		.		.		.	.		1		.	.		.	.	1	.
		4		.		.		1	.		.		1	.		.	1	2	.
		DP		.		.		.	.		.		.	.		.	.	1	.
		Out of state		.		1		.	.		.		.	2		.	2	3	.
2C:33-4		1		.		.		.	.		.		.	.		.	.	1	.
		3		.		1		.	.		.		.	.		.	1	2	.
		4		.		.		.	.		.		.	.		.	2	2	1
		DP		1		6		4	.		.		.	5		1	9	3	5
		PDP		2		19		3	1		.		.	6		2	12	14	7
		Out of state		.		4		.	.		.		.	.		.	5	1	1
Client totals				3		31		8	1		1		1	13		6	32	30	14
	FAMILY COURT JUVENILE DATA FOR CHARGES FILED SINCE January 1, 2022
	STALKING 2C:12-10; HARASSMENT 2C:33-4
	County		2C:12-10				2C:33-4								Total Charged
			Degree				Degree
			3		4		3			4		P
	Atlantic		0		0		0			20		75			95
	Bergen		0		0		0			10		23			33
	Burlington		0		2		0			20		54			76
	Camden		0		1		0			19		69			89
	Cape May		1		1		0			1		6			9
	Cumberland		0		0		0			2		54			56
	Essex		0		0		0			15		38			53
	Gloucester		0		0		0			6		44			50
	Hudson		0		0		0			2		5			7
	Hunterdon		0		5		0			11		20			36
	Mercer		0		0		0			11		45			56
	Middlesex		0		3		2			38		50			93
	Monmouth		0		0		0			11		78			89
	Morris		0		0		0			13		9			22
	Ocean		0		0		0			8		33			41
	Passaic		0		1		0			5		27			33
	Salem		0		0		0			0		13			13
	Somerset		0		1		0			4		12			17
	Sussex		0		0		0			8		11			19
	Union		0		1		0			11		29			41
	Warren		0		0		0			0		11			11
	Total		1		15		2			215		706			939

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[1] This racial and ethnic community criminal justice and public safety impact statement has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2017, c.286 (C.52:11-57.1).  Although impact statements are considered a tool for policymaking, the Office of Legislative Services does not take a policy position in preparing a racial and ethnic community criminal justice and public safety impact statement.  The role of the Office of Legislative Services is to gather and present data for legislators to review.  This statement may reflect information provided by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the United States Department of Justice, New Jersey Department of Corrections, and Juvenile Justice Commission in the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety.

[2] Publicly available data obtained from the federal census for national and State populations as of April 1, 2020.

[3] Publicly available data of federally sentenced persons in custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, as of June 1, 2024.

[4] Publicly available data produced by the New Jersey Department of Corrections concerning the State inmate population on January 1, 2024. It has been reported by the New Jersey Department of Corrections that the Fiscal Year 2024 average daily population was 12,490. However, that number has not been sorted by race or ethnicity.

[5] Publicly available data produced by the New Jersey Department of Corrections concerning the State inmate population on January 1, 2024. It has been reported by the New Jersey Department of Corrections that the Fiscal Year 2024 average daily population was 12,490. However, that number has not been sorted by race or ethnicity.

[6] The Live Scan process is the automated fingerprint information system that the State Bureau of Identification utilizes as centralized storage for criminal arrest fingerprints.