S 3506 New Jersey Senate · 2024-2025 Regular Session

Requires AG to establish training program for crowd management and provide resources to municipal police department or force for large gatherings and flash mobs.*

This bill requires New Jersey's Attorney General to create a crowd management training program for municipal police departments that have hosted two or more large gatherings (over 500 people) or experienced flash mobs (50+ people organized via social media without advance notice) in the past year. The training covers techniques for managing crowds, juvenile interactions, social media monitoring, and coordination with neighboring agencies. Participating departments also gain access to social media monitoring tools, mobile command units, and additional State Police support during large events or flash mobs. The program aims to improve public safety response during unannounced gatherings that impact community safety.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Sub-Topics: Policing Juvenile Justice

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jun 2024

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jun 26, 2024 Last action Dec 18, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Reprint SLP 2/13/25 1R → Reprint SBA 3/17/25 2R · 7 edits

MODERATE

The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee significantly restructured how training and resources are provided to local police for managing large-scale gatherings and flash mobs. The most important change removes the eligibility requirement that a municipality must have hosted two or more large-scale gatherings in the prior 12 months, replacing it with a broader need-based system where any municipal force can request support through established protocols when it lacks sufficient personnel and resources.

Scope change

The bill's scope broadened from targeting only municipalities with a recent history of large-scale gatherings or flash mobs to any municipal police department that needs assistance beyond its own capacity, shifting from an eligibility-based model to a need-based request system governed by protocols.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed the requirement that a municipality must have hosted two or more large-scale gatherings (or a flash mob) in the preceding 12 months to qualify for training. Training is now broadly available to enhance any local police department's ability to manage such incidents.

REQUIREMENT

Replaced the simple 'make resources available' model with a requirement that the Attorney General establish and maintain protocols through which resources may be requested by and made available to municipal forces that need assistance beyond their own personnel and resources.

Added a requirement that additional personnel support be provided 'in accordance with principles established under the protocols or any applicable memoranda of understanding or mutual aid plan.'

The immediate support process for flash mobs is now embedded within the broader protocols framework and limited to situations of 'exigent need' rather than being a standalone AG-established process.

FISCAL

Added intelligence resources provided through the Division of State Police as an available resource alongside social media monitoring tools.

SCOPE

Expanded coordination and resource sharing from 'neighboring law enforcement agencies' to specifically include 'county and neighboring municipal law enforcement agencies,' and added county and neighboring municipal agencies as sources of additional personnel support.

TECHNICAL

Changed training content from 'crowd management techniques' to 'crowd management and crowd control techniques' in two items.

Introduced Version → Reprint SLP 2/13/25 1R · 6 edits

MODERATE

The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee amended S 3506 to consolidate the concept of 'pop-up party' into the definition of 'flash mob' rather than treating them as separate terms throughout the bill. The amendments also narrow the scope of covered law enforcement agencies from 'local or municipal' to just 'municipal,' remove 'social' from the trigger phrase 'large-scale social gatherings,' and restructure subsections for clarity.

Scope change

The bill narrows its applicability by removing 'local' police departments (keeping only municipal), folding 'pop-up party' into the 'flash mob' definition rather than treating it as a separate category, and removing 'social' from the large-scale gathering trigger. The overall policy purpose remains the same but with tighter definitions.

DEFINITION

The defined term is now simply 'flash mob' (previously 'flash mob or pop-up party'), but the definition body still includes 'or pop-up party' as a type of flash mob. This consolidates the two concepts into one legal term.

ELIGIBILITY

The training program trigger no longer includes 'pop-up party' as a separate qualifying event. A municipality now qualifies if it hosted two or more large-scale gatherings (no longer 'social') or where a flash mob occurred (previously 'had a flash mob or pop-up party occur').

SCOPE

Resources under subsection c are now available only to 'municipal police department or force' rather than 'local or municipal police department or force,' removing the broader 'local' category.

REQUIREMENT

The social media strategies training requirement (subsection b(3)) now explicitly covers 'large-scale gatherings or flash mobs' rather than just large-scale gatherings.

ENFORCEMENT

The immediate support process in new subsection d is now explicitly framed as a process 'for a municipal police department or force to request' support, and no longer references pop-up parties separately.

TECHNICAL

The entire STATEMENT section at the end of the bill was removed, which is standard when a bill advances from introduction to committee report.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported out of Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading

upper

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee

upper

Feb 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported out of Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading

upper

Jun 26, 2024

Introduced

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee

upper

2 primary · 3 co-sponsors