Bill > S884

Introduced Session

This bill expands the scope of current law regulating security guards in this State. Under the "Security Officer Registration Act," commonly referred to as SORA, security guards employed by security guard companies are strictly regulated by the Division of State Police. This bill extends SORA's provisions to security guards employed by private companies. Specifically, under the bill, any person employed as an in-house security officer by a company that maintains a proprietary or in-house security function is required to register with the Superintendent of State Police and complete an education and training course. Under current law, only security officers who are employed by a "security officer company" that furnishes security services to other entities are required to register with the superintendent. Other requirements of SORA also would be extended to in-house security officers under this bill. An in-house security officer would be required to be 18 years of age or older. A person convicted of any of the following crimes or offenses would not be permitted to register as a security officer: (1) a crime of the first, second, third, or fourth degree; (2) an offense involving the unlawful use, possession, or sale of a controlled dangerous substance as defined in N.J.S.2C:35-2; or (3) an offense where the issuance of a license would be contrary to the public interest, as determined by the superintendent. Under current law, a person who acts as a security guard without complying with the registration requirements is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree, which is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. The violator also is subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 for a first offense and $2,500 for a second or subsequent offense. The violator's registration also may be revoked or suspended. Under the bill, these penalties would apply to in-house security officers who violate registration requirements. The provisions of the bill do not apply to loss prevention employees. The bill defines a loss prevention employee as an unarmed employee of a company and whose primary responsibility is loss prevention and the protection of assets of that business. The bill's provisions also do not apply to employees of a company whose business includes hosting sporting and entertainment events at an arena or stadium where a State, county, or municipal law enforcement agency is on the premises during the event and whose in-house security employees do not carry handguns or other licensed weapons. The bill also does not apply to security employees regulated under federal law. The bill also requires a person employed as an in-house security officer prior to the bill's effective date is required to register as a security officer and complete the education and training program within one year following the enactment of the bill. The bill also imposes additional requirements on all security officers under SORA. Currently, security officers are required to renew their registration every two years. Regulations promulgated pursuant to SORA require applicants for renewal to also complete an eight-hour refresher course. Under the bill, unarmed security officers would continue to be required to renew their registration every two years, but armed security officers would be required to renew their registrations every year. Both armed and unarmed security officers would be statutorily required to complete the refresher course every year. The bill also imposes additional penalties upon security officer instructors who do not comply with rules and regulations governing the functions of a certified security officer instructor. For a first offense, a person is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 and for a second or subsequent offense not more than $2,500. The bill further requires all armed security guards in the industry to wear standardized uniforms for identification purposes. The Superintendent of State Police is responsible for determining the standards for this uniform under the bill. The standards are to require SORA Level 2 armed security officers to wear on their uniform a badge indicating this status and armed security officers who wear company-issued shirts to have the word "SECURITY" printed on the reverse side of the shirt. Finally, the bill requires armed security guards to carry their handguns in a level 3 or higher retention level holster. Handgun holsters are ranked from level 1 to level 4 based on how secure the weapon is in the holster. A weapon in the least secure level 1 holster can be easily withdrawn by the officer or another person. More secure level 2 holsters, which include a "thumb break," or safety strap retention system, generally are used by police officers. Level 3 and 4 holsters have additional security features. This bill is designated as "Melvin Santiago's Law" in honor of the 23-year old Jersey City rookie police officer tragically killed by a suspect who grabbed a gun from a Walgreen's security guard and open-fired on Santiago in his police vehicle as he responded to the armed robbery.

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Linda Greenstein (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee (on 01/12/2016)