On Monday, December 11, the Senate passed S-587/A-649, a bill proposing amendments to N.J.S.A 2C: 64-6, which concerns the use of civil asset forfeiture funds by law enforcement. Civil asset forfeiture, where the government seeks ownership of property linked to criminal activity, currently allows law enforcement to use the resulting funds exclusively for activities related to criminal investigations, surveillance, arrests, and prosecutions. This bill aims to expand the permissible use of civil asset forfeiture funds to include educating the public in crime prevention techniques, promoting community outreach, providing diversity training for law enforcement officers, and establishing and implementing minority selection and recruitment programs.
The League supports this legislation because it provides municipal police departments with more flexibility to allocate forfeiture funds in ways that can improve both their operational effectiveness and their relationship with the communities they serve.
S-587A-649 has been favorably released from the Senate and has been sent to Governor Murphy for review.
Contact: Andrew LaFevre, Legislative Analyst, alafevre@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x116.