Office of Legislative Services
State House Annex
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Trenton, New Jersey 08625
Legislative Budget and Finance Office
Phone (609) 847-3105
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www.njleg.state.nj.us
LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[Second Reprint]
SENATE, No. 3506
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
DATED: MARCH 25, 2025
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Requires AG to establish training program for crowd management and
provide resources to municipal police department or force for large
gatherings and flash mobs.
Type of Impact: Annual State expenditure increase.
Agencies Affected: Department of Law and Public Safety; county and municipal law
enforcement agencies.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact
Annual State Expenditure Increase Indeterminate
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that the bill would require an indeterminate
increase in both upfront and ongoing expenditures for the Department of Law and Public
Safety to establish a crowd management and crowd control training program, establish
protocols for local law enforcement to request immediate support during a flash mob, and
provide certain resources, as needed, to local law enforcement. The OLS lacks sufficient
information on the number of flash mob occurrences historically or the cost of the resources
needed by local law enforcement to quantify the bill’s fiscal impact on the department.
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill requires the Office of the Attorney General to establish a crowd management and
control training program and to provide resources to local law enforcement under certain
circumstances.
The Office of the Attorney General, in consultation with the New Jersey Division of State
Police, the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, and the New Jersey State Association
of Chiefs of Police, is required to establish a training program to enhance the ability of a local
police department or force to manage an incident involving a large-scale gathering or a flash mob.
In addition, the bill requires the Office of the Attorney General to establish and maintain
protocols through which the following resources may be requested by and made available to any FE to S3506 [2R]
2
municipal police department or force that requires assistance beyond its own personnel and
resources in managing an incident involving a large-scale gathering or flash mob: (1) access to
social media monitoring tools and intelligence resources provided through the Division of State
Police; (2) mobile command units that may be deployed during a large-scale gathering or during a
flash mob; and (3) personnel from county and neighboring municipal law enforcement agencies
and from the Division of State Police to provide support, as needed, in accordance with principles
established under the protocols or any applicable memoranda of understanding or mutual aid plan.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS finds that the bill would require an indeterminate increase in both upfront and
ongoing expenditures for the Department of Law and Public Safety to establish a crowd
management training program, establish a process for local law enforcement to request immediate
support during a flash mob, and provide certain resources, as needed, to local law enforcement.
The OLS anticipates that the department would experience one-time expenditures to establish:
1) the crowd management and crowd control training program; and 2) the protocols for local law
enforcement to request immediate support during an incident involving a large gathering or flash
mob. Any further periodic cost increases would result from the intermittent updating of the
training course curriculum and instruction and the provision of State resources when requested by
an affected municipality. Currently, the New Jersey Police Training Commission’s Basic Course
for Police Officers training curriculum has a training module dedicated to riot and crowd control
as well as a revised training module regarding interactions with juveniles.
The OLS cannot estimate the cost to develop and provide training to local law enforcement
officers or to establish a policy for municipal law enforcement to reach out to the Office of the
Attorney General for immediate support during a flash mob; however, the OLS determines that
meeting these requirements of this bill may not be overly labor-intensive and that the concerned
entities may be able to absorb the additional workload within their existing operating budgets.
Additionally, the OLS lacks the informational basis to predict the frequency with which
affected municipalities that have completed the training program will request resources from the
Office of the Attorney General to arrive at a cost estimate for that provision of the bill.
Section: Law and Public Safety
Analyst: Kristin Brunner Santos
Lead Fiscal Analyst
Approved: Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the
failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).