RACIAL AND ETHNIC COMMUNITY CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY IMPACT STATEMENT

ASSEMBLY, No. 4652(1R)

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

SUMMARY

Synopsis:

Establishes offense of inciting public brawl; upgrades penalty for disorderly conduct in certain circumstances.

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.4652 (1R) creates the offense of inciting a public brawl and upgrades the penalty for engaging in disorderly conduct under certain circumstances.

Under the bill, a person is guilty of inciting a public brawl if the person acts with purpose to organize or promote a group of four or more other persons to engage in a course of disorderly conduct. Inciting a public brawl is a crime of the fourth degree if the person acts with purpose to disrupt or cause a disturbance at a public gathering or event or knowing that a disruption or disturbance is likely to occur; otherwise, it is a disorderly persons offense.

Additionally, the bill provides that a person who attempts to conceal or conceals the person’s identity while engaging in a course of disorderly conduct, with purpose to hinder prosecution or avoid apprehension, is guilty of a disorderly persons offense. The bill also establishes that a person commits disorderly conduct by acting with purpose to disrupt or cause a disturbance at a public gathering or event and is guilty of a disorderly persons offense. Under current law, a person who engages in a course of disorderly conduct commits a petty disorderly persons offense.

A fourth degree crime is punishable by up to 18 months imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. A person who commits a fourth degree crime may be eligible for entry into a pretrial intervention program (PTI). The courts sets the conditions of PTI, which may include random drug screening, community service, mental health or substance abuse evaluations, and compliance with treatment recommendations. A disorderly persons offense is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to $1,000 or both. A petty disorderly persons offense is punishable by imprisonment of up to 30 days, a fine of up to $500, or both. In the case of citations issued for petty disorderly and disorderly persons offenses, appearance in court is mandatory.

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:

The below displays the number of arrest events with any paragraph of the enumerated charges below displayed by race/ethnicity for all arrests between January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2024.

Statute	Statute Description	Degree	White (incl. Hispanic origin)	Black	Asian/ Pac. Islander	Am. Indian/ Alaska Native	Unknown/ Not Provided
2C:33-1A(1)	Riot – Commission of Crime	4th	29	35		1
2C:33-1A(2)	Riot – Prevention or Coercion of Official Acts	4th	11	11			3
2C:33-1A(3)	Riot – Firearms or Deadly Weapons	3rd	14	17			1
2C:33-1B	Riot – Failure to Disperse	DP	31	36			5
2C:33:2	Disorderly Conduct	PDP	5	1
2C:33-2A	Disorderly Conduct – Improper Behavior	PDP	4	1
2C:33-2A(1)	Disorderly Conduct – Fights or Threats	PDP	1,965	1,719	44	6	125
2C:33-2A(2)	Disorderly Conduct – Creating Hazardous Conditions	PDP	1,598	1,296	62	9	129
2C:33-2B	Disorderly Conduct – Offensive Language	PDP	167	173	6		15

The below displays the number of Unique Persons Convicted of any paragraph of the enumerated charges below displayed by race/ethnicity for all arrests between January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2024.

Statute	Statute Description	Degree	White (incl. Hispanic origin)	Black	Asian/ Pac. Islander	Am. Indian/ Alaska Native	Unknown/ Not Provided
2C:33-1A(1)	Riot – Commission of Crime	4th		4		1
2C:33-1A(3)	Riot – Firearms or Deadly Weapons	3rd	1
2C:33-1B	Riot – Failure to Disperse	DP	2	4
2C:33:2	Disorderly Conduct	PDP	5	1
2C:33-2A	Disorderly Conduct – Improper Behavior	PDP	4	1
2C:33-2A(1)	Disorderly Conduct – Fights or Threats	PDP	257	174	3		19
2C:33-2A(2)	Disorderly Conduct – Creating Hazardous Conditions	PDP	111	80	3		8
2C:33-2B	Disorderly Conduct – Offensive Language	PDP	42	50	4		2

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 pages 2 and 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 Offenses	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.

DATA PROVIDED BY THE JUDICIARY

The Administrative Office of the Courts was unable to provide data within the timeframe, established by the Legislative Services Commission, for the production of the Racial and Ethnic Community Justice and Public Safety Impact Statement.

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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.