Gov. Phil Murphy has signed a new pop-up party bill into law in New Jersey to help police deal with large and chaotic gatherings.
The law, sponsored by Rep. Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, will provide officers with training to respond more quickly and bring crowds under control.
Officials point to incidents like a street takeover in Secaucus last summer, where police vehicles were damaged as people jumped on them when officers arrived. Similar pop-up gatherings have also occurred at the Jersey Shore in recent years.
The law requires the Attorney General to establish a crowd management training program for departments that experienced more than one pop-up party or flash mob in the past year.
Training will include resources to monitor social media and deploy mobile command units to respond to chaotic crowds.