NJ Senate OKs bill to raise penalties for home burglaries, invasions. See the details

Responding to a surge in home burglaries in recent years, New Jersey's Senate has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would increase penalties for offenders caught breaking into residences.

"Law enforcement personnel have expressed an urgent need to pass legislation to combat the troubling wave of residential home burglaries spreading across New Jersey," one of the bill's prime sponsor, Morris County Republican Anthony Bucco, said in a statement Monday.

"By enforcing stricter penalties, we're sending a clear message that individuals who burglarize homes or engage in other associated criminal activities will face severe consequences."

While rates of burglaries and associated car thefts ticked down last year, the state continues to seek tools to combat the problems, Bucco added. One of the latest cases to stir alarm came in Boonton Township two weeks ago, where a surveillance camera caught three men climbing into a home that they later ransacked, according to police.

Burglary bill boosts penalties

The legislation, approved in a 36-1 vote on Friday, establishes residential burglary as a second-degree crime carrying a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Currently, such offenses are lumped in a general category including commercial burglaries that are classified as third-degree crimes, punishable by three to five years incarceration.

Under current statutes, a residential burglary can be upgraded to second-degree if the offender recklessly or intentionally attempts or succeeds in causing bodily harm to a victim.

Bucco's bill, S3006 , , must still pass the state Assembly and secure the governor's signature to become law. It would also create a new first-degree offense, “home invasion burglary,” which would apply when the perpetrator commits a residential burglary with a deadly weapon, "or inflicts, attempts to inflict, or threatens bodily injury during the course of the burglary." First-degree crimes can carry a sentence of up to 20 years.

Bucco, the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate, cosponsored the measure along with Democratic Sens. Vin Gopal and Brian Stack. The lone vote against the Senate bill was cast by Britnee Timberlake, a Democrat representing District 34 in Essex County. She was not available for comment Monday.

Auto thefts, break-ins surged in 2022

Bucco, who represents the 26th District, has worked with Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll and Sheriff James Gannon on ways to crack down on a crime wave that began with a surge in auto theft in 2022. That increase, fueled by criminal gangs who descended on neighborhoods in search of unlocked cars, came with a corresponding increase in home burglaries as thieves searched for keys and car fobs inside residences.

Thieves stole 15,644 vehicles in 2022, more than 1,000 above the previous year and nearly 4,000 more than in 2020, according to State Police data. Home burglaries also increased, police said, as those suspects sought to enter unlocked homes in search of car keys and other valuables.

More: Auto theft drops in Morris, but car-related burglaries are rising. Here's what you can do

With new deterrents against auto thieves, including legislation signed last year by Gov. Phil Murphy, rates of auto theft and burglary dropped last year.

"The impact of a home burglary on the crime victim is traumatic and it has lasting effects; it is a violation of a person’s very security," Gannon added. "After such an intrusion, a person’s home no longer feels like a safe haven because their personal privacy has been violated, their sanctuary is destroyed.  Most importantly, such encounters can be deadly."Carroll, an appointee of Gov. Phil Murphy, said Morris County and the state at large have "experienced an onslaught of car thefts, which have now escalated to residential burglaries, at homes that are often occupied, by criminals looking for key fobs or other valuables

"In Morris County, we have successfully reduced the number of car thefts by the use of automated license plate readers and the close cooperation between our municipal police, state, and federal partners. But we need more."

ACLU pushes back

Critics of the bill include the ACLU of New Jersey. The civil rights organization said it favored establishing the new crime statutes but balked at the higher penalties included in the final passage.

Two separate bills were merged last week "at the last minute," ACLU-NJ Policy Counsel Joe Johnson told the Daily Record. "We haven't seen any data that there is such a need on this type of [residential burglary] offense. We've asked the Legislature for whatever data it is they are relying on to justify this policy, and haven't seen anything."

Based on the publicly available data, which only goes back to 2020, Johnson said, "There is no sign of a massive increase in burglaries that requires increases in penalties across the board."

What's next for legislation

The legislation has been referred to the state Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee. Johnson said the ACLU would engage Assembly members in discussions about the bill.

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today .

Email: wwesthoven@ dailyrecord.com

Twitter/X: @wwesthoven

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ Senate OKs bill to raise penalties for home burglaries, invasions. See the details