Assembly Democrats

SENATE PASSES PORTION OF WATSON COLEMAN ANTI-STREET GANG PACKAGE

Measure Would Help Combat Gang Violence, Protect Children

(TRENTON) - The Senate today passed a piece of a sweeping "Fighting Gangs, Protecting Our Youth" legislative initiative Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman championed to provide municipalities, schools, and law enforcement authorities with new tools to combat the growing menace of street gangs in New Jersey.

The measure (A-2667) would make recruiting minors to join street gangs a second-degree crime, punishable by up to 10 years in jail and $150,000 in fines. It is sponsored by Assemblymen Louis M. Manzo (D-Hudson), Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), Dr. Herbert C. Conaway, Jr. (D-Burlington), and Brian P. Stack (D-Hudson). The Senate amended the legislation to also make recruiting members under 18 through multiple threats of bodily harm and recruiting members while under official detention - i.e. jailed or paroled - second-degree crimes.

"Criminal street gangs have become an epidemic across our state, destroying our neighborhoods, terrorizing our residents, and engaging in crime, violence and general depravity," said Watson Coleman (D-Mercer). "We need this legislation to help us crack down on gangs, protect witnesses of gang crimes, and teach our children to resist the trendy allure of gang membership."

"Control the means of committing crimes and you help control the crimes themselves," said Manzo. "If you cut off a gang's ability to recruit and inoculate new members, you're going to make it that much harder for them to commit street crimes."

"If gang members start doing hard time, many of them may think twice before committing a crime," said Conaway. "Tougher penalties for breaking the law and subscribing to the gang lifestyle could mean the difference between a 15-year-old hoodlum and a 15-year-old high school student."

The Senate passed the measure 37 to 0. The Assembly must now concur with the Senate amendments.

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