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Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 2C:20-14

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
a. A law enforcement officer, a special officer, or an employee of a library facility who has probable cause for believing that a person has willfully concealed library material and that he can recover the material by taking the person into custody, may, for the purpose of attempting to recover the material, take the person into custody and detain him in a reasonable manner for a reasonable time. Taking the person into custody shall not render the law enforcement officer, the special officer, or the employee of a library facility civilly or criminally liable.

b. Any law enforcement officer who has probable cause for believing that a person has committed the offense of theft of library material may arrest the person without warrant.

c. An employee of a library facility who causes the arrest of a person for theft of library material, as provided for in this act, shall not be civilly or criminally liable where the employee has probable cause for believing that the person arrested committed the offense of theft of library material.

L. 1985, c. 373, s. 3, eff. Nov. 26, 1985.