ASSEMBLY PUBLIC SAFETY AND PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 5561

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 15, 2025

      The Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5561.

      As amended and reported by the committee, this bill requires the Attorney General to establish a 90-day pilot program to assist with ballistics analysis in the 10 municipalities with the highest violent crime rate based on the Uniform Crime Report data collected by the New Jersey State Police.

     Under the provisions of the program, each municipality would receive a ballistics scanning device. These devices allow law enforcement officers to scan cartridge cases at the scene of an incident where a firearm has been discharged and immediately upload the information to an investigative portal. Shortly after uploading the information, an officer is provided with a crime scene analysis report to assist in the timely investigation of the incident. The pilot program would require each participating law enforcement agency to use the device as part of the agency’s evidentiary and firearm intelligence and investigatory processes.

     Following completion of the pilot program, the bill requires the chief law enforcement officer of each participating municipality to submit a report to the Attorney General within 30 days that provides a detailed summary of each incident in which the agency used the device and recommends whether the agency should continue to use the device.  No later than 60 days following receipt of the reports, the bill requires the Attorney General to issue a report to the Governor and the Legislature recommending whether the pilot program should be made permanent with an annual appropriation made to fund use of the devices in municipalities with the highest violent crime rates.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The amendments clarify that Uniform Crime Report data be used to determine the 10 municipalities with the highest violent crime rate.  The data is more up to date than the information provided in the most recently published Uniform Crime Report.