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Assemblyman Angel Fuentes (D-Camden) introduced legislation Monday that attempts to give law enforcement more tools to effectively combat drug crime.
The bill (A-2416) would give a law enforcement officer or prosecuting attorney, under certain circumstances, the ability to apply for a restraining order against person who is being charged with a criminal offense and who is released without being detained.
The measure is designed to fill a gap in the current system and would allow the authorities to prevent an individual from returning to the scene where the offense occurred, as well as a buffer around that area.
"It is too easy for individuals being charged with a crime, particularly crimes related to drugs and drug violence, to return to the same places and people that facilitate this behavior," Fuentes said. "If we want to stop a drug dealer from harming our community, we cannot just work to take away their product. We also want to take away the street corner, the school yard and the store front where they push their poison on our children and our vulnerable."Fuentes described the bill as a needed change to Drug Offender Restraining Order Act.
"A drug dealer needs access to users, and by denying them their usual haunts and removing them from their comfort zone, we force them into the light and send a message to these criminals that we won't tolerate the evil they bring to our neighborhoods,'' he said. "We won't stand by idly."
The proposal is expected to be part of the discussion Tuesday when Fuentes attends a public meeting hosted by the Camden Churches Organized for People Tuesday at St. Josephs Pro-Cathedral in Camden. He will be joined by Camden Mayor Dana Redd, Police Chief John Scott Thomson and City Council President Francisco Moran.
– TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
