Cracking down on burglars in NJ
Prosecutors say the number of burglaries in New Jersey is skyrocketing. State lawmakers want to toughen the penalties for burglars who get caught.
Prosecutors say the number of burglaries in New Jersey is skyrocketing. State lawmakers want to toughen the penalties for burglars who get caught.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi says more than 70 percent of the burglaries in the Garden State take place at residences.
“There is an escalation in residential burglaries and what’s really disconcerting these residential burglaries are becoming more and more violent as we move along. It is not a situation anymore where people are kind of waiting in the bushes for somebody to leave their home.”
Bianchi says gangs are using burglaries to fund their operation.
The Assembly’s Law and Public Safety Committee has advanced a bill to upgrade burglary from a third degree to a second degree crime with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. The measure is still awaiting action in the state Senate.
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