Police: New Law Prevents Investigating Child Marijuana Use

Brick Police Sgt. Jim Kelly speaks with visitors to the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk during a recent rally by members of the Ocean County Chief of Police Association concerning legislation that has inhibited law enforcement’s ability to protect the public and youth from marijuana use. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)

  POINT PLEASANT BEACH – Even before the passage of November ballot question regarding legalization of marijuana, residents, municipal leaders and law enforcement agencies pondered how it would be administrated.

   When new state laws were announced in Trenton, it didn’t take long for them to receive criticism by many Ocean County municipal leaders. Police said the new laws were “handcuffing” their ability to do their jobs.

  Point Pleasant Beach Police Chief Joseph A. Michigan, who serves as president of the Ocean County Chiefs of Police Association, joined 30th District Sen. Robert W. Singer, 10th District Assemblyman John Catalano, Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners Gary Quinn, Ocean County Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy, local elected officials and police chiefs to discuss their concerns over the new state marijuana laws.

  During the recent press conference held at a police substation on the borough’s boardwalk, those assembled spoke about why the new laws were detrimental and would severely impact shore communities and families.

Point Pleasant Beach Police Chief Joseph A. Michigan, who serves as president of the Ocean County Chiefs of Police Association, joined 30th District Sen. Robert W. Singer, 10th District Assemblyman John Catalano, Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners Gary Quinn, Ocean County Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy, local mayors, council members, and police chiefs to discuss their concerns over the new state marijuana laws. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)

  Chief Michigan said, “The law inexplicably bans police officers from notifying parents the first time their children are found to be using or in possession of marijuana or alcohol. Overreaching even further, the law criminalizes the good-faith actions of police officers who, smelling marijuana, try to investigate the underage use or possession by a child.

  “While those in New Jersey voted to legalize cannabis for adults, Trenton has taken the extraordinary leap to pass a law that goes far beyond the voter mandate to include de-facto legalization of marijuana and alcohol for children,” he said.

  Chief Michigan noted that as “public backlash against this unprecedented legislative threat to children grows, Trenton now is signaling that there will be a ‘clean-up’ bill that will allow officers to provide notification to parents when their children are caught using or possessing marijuana or alcohol. This clean-up language as proposed does nothing to correct this fatally flawed legislation. Officers would continue to face potential for serious criminal deprivation of civil rights charges for the common-sense act of simply investigating underage use or possession of alcohol or marijuana by minors.”

  Sen. Singer said, “let no one tell you from the senate or the assembly or the governor that they didn’t understand what was in this bill. They were all briefed on it. This is a disgusting piece of legislation. The voters did not vote that we should have 12-year-olds drinking beer, smoking marijuana and nothing can be done about it. In this piece of legislation anyone under 21 is considered a minor. That means college students, people who are 18, 19 and 20 years old are considered a minor and you cannot search them.”

Don’t let Trenton handcuff your police is the message this vehicle of the Ocean County Chiefs of Police Association is promoting during a rally in Point Pleasant Beach. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)

  “Think about that – they hide a case a beer in a cooler and you can’t search them and they can’t even give you permission to search it. If the police do anything, they can be charged with a third-degree crime. That can mean jail or a major fine,” the senator added.

  Commissioner Quinn pledged the county’s support in efforts opposing what has been approved by Trenton. “This is something that caught us off guard when we saw the bill had passed. We were absolutely astonished on the county level to see that something of this magnitude had gone through Trenton and to receive the support it received.”

  “It not only ties the hands of our police officers. It also pulls the rights of every mother and father away from them for children under the age of 21. This is just opening up the door for the opportunity for these kids to go down a path that we don’t – as parents – want to see happen. The Board of Commissioners is 100% opposed to this bill,” Quinn added.

  Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra had some strong words about “this ill-conceived piece of legislation.” He said his police department’s job has gotten more difficult in recent years. “Trenton has increasingly made it that only the most bad actors have any repercussion for their criminal activity. Just the other day someone was arrested for breaking into homes here in Point Pleasant Beach, was fought off by a nanny and still had to be released onto the streets that night. This is insanity.”

  Among the police chiefs present were those from Lacey, Toms River, Little Egg Harbor, Brick and Jackson townships.

  Jackson Police Chief Matthew Kunz told Jersey Shore Online.com that he presented a sample resolution to the Jackson Council opposing the bill.

Director of the Board of Commissioners Gary Quinn speaks during a rally organized by the Ocean County Chiefs of Police Association in Point Pleasant Beach. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)

  “It metaphorically handcuffs us from doing our job and it prevents parents from knowing what their children are doing. Beyond that the removal of qualified immunity in law enforcement. If you are acting in good faith, you think some kids are up to no good, drinking and smoking pot, and you want to investigate, they also want to remove your legal protection in a good faith investigation and allows you to be sued for just approaching them to investigate,” Chief Kunz said.

  Qualified immunity is a protection that judges and legislators have to protect from litigation. “Should you be sued now for taking a reasonable measure to do an investigation? They want to take away qualified immunity which is a reasonable protection that exists for judges and legislators and there is no reason it shouldn’t continue for law enforcement. Law enforcement officers will still be accountable. There is no reason to remove this other protection from them,” Kunz added.

  Chief DiBella said Lacey was strongly opposed to the legislation. He told Jersey Shore Online.com that removing the ability to inform parents about their children’s use of alcohol or marijuana “goes against everything that we believe in. As a chief of police, I was against the legalized use of recreational marijuana but the voters voted for it and here we are. As you can see certain things come with that.”

  “Removing qualified immunity and making a police investigation a third-degree charge is not what voters voted for. These are things that need to be corrected,” Chief DiBella said.

  Lacey Mayor Peter Curatolo and Seaside Park Mayor John Peterson were among the municipal leaders present during the day supporting opposition to the legislation.

  Curatolo told Jersey Shore Online.com after the rally that the legislation “hamstrings the police and essentially makes them become powerless on this issue and not let them have an enforcement arm.”

  He added that it prevents police from intervening “in a young person’s life in a positive first interaction. You are taking away an opportunity to make a positive effect on society. If you want gangs vote yes to legalized marijuana. We’ve seen it in California and Colorado.”