TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced a directive instructing law enforcement agencies to stop arresting individuals with municipal court bench warrants with bail amounts of $500 or less May 25.
People arrested under this procedure are generally already released after arrest. They will now instead be given notice of a new court date and released on the scene.
The stated goal is to avoid the ramifications of arrest for such individuals and to use law enforcement resources more efficiently and safely.
Municipal court bench warrants are issued if someone doesn’t show up for their court date or pay their fines for low level offenses including traffic offenses, local ordinance violations, disorderly persons offenses and shoplifting.
There are currently hundreds of thousands of municipal bench warrants outstanding in New Jersey. Platkin’s directive will ensure fewer unnecessary arrests are made. The hope is to decrease the likelihood of volatile encounters between police and individuals and to free up law enforcement time and resources.
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