New Jersey statute

N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3 — False public alarms

Current through P.L.2025, c.346, and J.R.22

Part of Chapter 33, New Jersey Statutes.

Criminal charges under this statute

False public alarms

Full text of N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3

Statutory text current through the P.L.2025, c.346, and J.R.22. This publication reproduces the official text of the New Jersey Statutes from the statute files published by the New Jersey Legislature; it is not the official statutes of the State of New Jersey.

N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3Primary source, current through the P.L.2025, c.346, and J.R.22

2C:33-3. False Public Alarms. a. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he initiates or circulates a report or warning of an impending fire, explosion, crime, catastrophe, emergency, or any other incident knowing that the report or warning is false or baseless and that it is likely to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transport, or to cause public inconvenience or alarm. (b) A person is guilty of a crime of the second degree if the false alarm involves a report or warning of an impending bombing, hostage situation, person armed with a deadly weapon as defined by subsection c. of N.J.S.2C:11-1, or any other incident that elicits an immediate or heightened response by law enforcement or emergency services. (c) A person is guilty of a crime of the second degree if the false alarm involves a report or warning about any critical infrastructure located in this State. For purposes of this subparagraph, "critical infrastructure" means any building, place of assembly, or facility that is indispensably necessary for national security, economic stability, or public safety. (2) A person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he knowingly causes the false alarm to be transmitted to or within any organization, official or volunteer, for dealing with emergencies involving danger to life or property. b. A person is guilty of a crime of the second degree if in addition to the report or warning initiated, circulated or transmitted under subsection a. of this section, he places or causes to be placed any false or facsimile bomb in a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transport or in a place likely to cause public inconvenience or alarm. A violation of this subsection is a crime of the first degree if it occurs during a declared period of national, State or county emergency. c. A person is guilty of a crime of the second degree if a violation of subsection a. of this section in fact results in serious bodily injury to another person or occurs during a declared period of national, State or county emergency. A person is guilty of a crime of the first degree if a violation of subsection a. of this section in fact results in death. d. For the purposes of this section, "in fact" means that strict liability is imposed. It shall not be a defense that the death or serious bodily injury was not a foreseeable consequence of the person's acts or that the death or serious bodily injury was caused by the actions of another person or by circumstances beyond the control of the actor. The actor shall be strictly liable upon proof that the crime occurred during a declared period of national, State or county emergency. It shall not be a defense that the actor did not know that there was a declared period of emergency at the time the crime occurred. e. A person is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree if the person knowingly places a call to a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system without purpose of reporting the need for 9-1-1 service. f. A person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if the person knowingly places a call to a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system with purpose to intimidate or harass an individual or group of individuals because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity. All local and county law enforcement authorities shall submit an annual report, on a form prescribed by the Attorney General, to the Uniform Crime Reporting Unit, within the Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety, or to another designated recipient determined by the Attorney General, containing the number and nature of offenses under this section committed within their respective jurisdictions and the disposition of these offenses. Every two years, the Uniform Crime Reporting Unit or other designated recipient of the annual reports shall forward a summary of all reports received during the preceding two-year period, along with a summary of offenses investigated by the Division of State Police for the same period, to the State's Office of Emergency Management. amended 1987, c.6; 1994, c.115; 1996, c.63, s.1; 1999, c.195, s.1; 2002, c.26, s.16; 2015, c.156; 2020, c.73, s.2.

Official sources

justia: N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3

Legal terms used in this section

Questions this section answers

What degree of offense is false public alarms in New Jersey?

It depends on the circumstances: false public alarms ranges from a crime of the fourth degree to a crime of the first degree in New Jersey under N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3.

Basic false public alarm: crime of the third degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3) · False alarm re bombing/hostage/armed person/heightened response: crime of the second degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3) · False alarm re critical infrastructure: crime of the second degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3) · False alarm transmitted to emergency organization: crime of the third degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3) · Placing false or facsimile bomb: crime of the second degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3) · Placing false or facsimile bomb during declared emergency: crime of the first degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3) · Subsection a. violation resulting in serious bodily injury or during declared emergency: crime of the second degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3) · Subsection a. violation resulting in death: crime of the first degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3) · False 9-1-1 call without purpose to report: crime of the fourth degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3) · 9-1-1 call to intimidate or harass based on bias: crime of the third degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3)

Which New Jersey statute covers false public alarms?

False public alarms is governed by N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3 (False public alarms).

This reference is informational and is not legal advice.