By ELIZABETH LITTLE and B.F. HARVEY/Special to the Sentinel
OCEAN CITY – In a Town Hall meeting Saturday, Ocean City Police Chief Jay Prettyman made his opinions on the new marijuana laws quite clear.
“What I will tell you is that the way that we were just legislatively directed to handle people under the age of 21 was a complete shock to every policeman in New Jersey,” Prettyman said before a crowd of more than 100 citizens spread throughout the auditorium at the Ocean City Tabernacle.
In February, Gov. Phil Murphy signed three bills to decriminalize possession of marijuana and hashish and make recreational cannabis consumption legal in the state. He signed these articles after an overwhelming 67 percent of New Jersey voters said “yes” to a ballot question in November legalizing recreational marijuana. New Jerseyans can now carry as much as 6 ounces of cannabis and 17 grams of hashish, a marijuana concentrate, without penalty. These new legalization laws also extend to possession of cannabis paraphernalia, being under the influence of cannabis and possession of cannabis in a vehicle. Driving under the influence of marijuana remains illegal.
New Jersey police are no longer allowed to use the odor of marijuana as probable cause to search a person under 21 or even ask for consent to search them. The most the police can do if encountering marijuana is to confiscate it from those under 21, but only if it is in plain sight. If the individual conceals the marijuana – or alcohol – the police cannot search that person. The most the police can do is issue a warning and request the person’s name and his or her parents’ names to inform the parents of the violation.
What is frustrating to police, Prettyman said, is that individuals under 21 are not obligated to identify themselves. If they do, they get a warning for a first offense and that information is sent to the parents. There are additional warnings for a second and third offense. If the individuals don’t identify themselves, police have to let them go on their way and in their report note the person did not provide identification.
Prettyman explained that all communities will have their own databases that are unrelated to each other, so one may get a first warning in Ocean City, then two weeks later get a first offense in Sea Isle, and then another first offense in Avalon.
“Yes, we can confiscate if we see it in plain sight, but as soon as they put it in their pocket, the games are over; they get to keep it, and we are not able to get it. That is crystal clear in the law,” Prettyman said.
For a second offense for possession of marijuana in Ocean City, individuals under the age of 21 will be referred to the “station house adjustment program.” This program includes community service, like washing the OCPD’s cars, a call to parents or guardians and essay writing.
On a third offense, there is a warning, information about substance abuse is provided to the person and a substance abuse center is contacted to help that person seek treatment voluntarily.
The police chief said his department has always tried to work with young people and their families to handle minor situations, but he assumed other communities may not have had the same policies. He speculated that the limits on police were enacted to prevent more young people from becoming part of the juvenile justice system, potentially limiting their futures with a criminal record.
He said the department is going to be cautious dealing with those under 21 because the new law says a police officer can be charged with a third-degree civil rights offense if he or she violates those individuals’ rights.
“If they commit a minor offense, which is not a crime, we are just going to give them a warning,” he said. “If it is a more serious offense, like a fist fight or shoplifting, then we are going to put them into the station house adjustment program and handle them informally. So you will very rarely, if ever, see a juvenile be charged with a complaint. So even if the victim is adamant about charging the juvenile with a complaint, we are not going to charge the juvenile with a complaint summons unless we are given permission to do so by our county prosecutor’s office,” Prettyman said.
For vehicle stops, Prettyman said police have psychophysical tests in place to determine if a person is operating under the influence. If an individual is stopped in his/her vehicle for a routine traffic stop, and the officer smells marijuana, the officer no longer has a right to search the vehicle. However, the officer can request that the driver get out of the vehicle, and then the officer can perform a series of tests to determine if the driver is under the influence. (That is the same basis for someone suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or prescription medication.)
If the driver is suspected to be impaired by marijuana use, the driver can be arrested on the driving under the influence charge. If not, the officer can issue a verbal warning.
“Let me present a couple of scenarios to you,” Prettyman said. “We pull the car over, there is a ton of smoke, it smells like marijuana. The only thing the officer is able to do is investigate whether or not that driver is operating the car under the influence of marijuana, hashish or cannabis. Once the officer determines that that driver is not impaired, he can only address the motor vehicle violations that he initially made that car stop for and then send them on their way. We are no longer going to bring people out of cars and search cars for marijuana. That plain smell, the smoke, that is just going to be a matter of life, the same as cigarette smoke,” Prettyman said.
The chief said Mayor Jay Gillian supported the OCPD investing enough funds to ensure every police officer has a body camera so all the interactions are documented. That will protect the citizens they encounter as well as the police. He said the city is increasing the number of surveillance cameras on the boardwalk as well.
In addition to the inclusion of body cams for all officers, Prettyman said the OCPD is putting three times the number of police on the boardwalk compared to previous years, in an attempt to make visitors feel safe and deter bad behavior.
Following Prettyman’s presentation, the Town Hall meeting opened up to a question-and-answer session for the public. A majority of those in attendance expressed their objection to the new marijuana laws and brainstormed how to deter locals and visitors from smoking cannabis or ways to identify people under the age of 21 to ensure their parents are notified.
“So we could end up having no enforcement at all or having to turn over an officer. I just cannot understand or fathom how that can be a part of the legislation,” an audience member said.
“So my background is in emergency nursing so I am going to say this to you because you mentioned where if you are concerned about the well-being of the person you have just stopped, regardless of age, whether you see substances, whether they hid substances, you can actually take them for medical treatment,” another audience member said. “Well, when they come to the emergency department, we do have to verify who they are, we do have to call their momma and daddy, and we do get to charge them with copay, and I just want to make that clear that we can assist you. So if you need to start bringing them to the ER, give those nurses a heads-up because we are on your back, we got your six.”
“First of all, I think that this is the absolute most ridiculous law I’ve ever seen or heard of. And I can’t believe that New Jersey passed this through, and I want everyone to remember this during election time,” said another attendee.
The legalization of recreational marijuana was left up to the citizens of New Jersey, as it was a question on the ballot last November.
Because the legalization of cannabis was signed into state law, the most Ocean City can do is to pass city ordinances to discourage the activity. City ordinances cannot contradict state law, but if the city wanted to pass ordinances that would restrict where and when people can smoke marijuana, it is free to do so. For instance, it is an Ocean City ordinance that people cannot smoke tobacco or cannabis, or drink alcohol on the beach or boardwalk or in other public recreational spaces.
Ocean City residents asked questions on what they can do to help the OCPD stop people from smoking marijuana. Prettyman explained that if there are complaints about odor, noise or inappropriate alcohol consumption, residents should reach out and call the non-emergency phone number for the Ocean City Police Department at (609) 399-9111. He said it is important to call when they have a complaint so his officers can act immediately, rather than complaining about it on social media long after the fact.