Gloucester Township

Gloucester Township unveils new legislation following mass brawl involving hundreds of teens

The archway at Veterans’ Memorial Park, along Chews Landing Road in Gloucester Township, NJ, A dozen people were arrested over the weekend after fights broke out at the annual Gloucester Township Day event,
NBC10

It's an answer to the mayhem, Gloucester Township officials joined lawmakers to announce a new bill package designed to reduce the instances of disorderly conduct and public brawls.

The legislation comes in response to the incident that happened during Gloucester Township Day earlier this month, in which multiple fights broke out after over 500 teens and young adults gathered during the drone light show.

Several people were treated for minor injuries following the incident, including law enforcement officers. So far over a dozen of juveniles have been arrested in connection to the fights and investigators are still searching for more, according to police.

Senator Paul Moriarty and Assemblymen Dan Hutchison and Cody D. Miller with other officials held a press conference at Veterans Memorial Park to discuss action against past and future incidents.

Officials said the new legislation takes a "sensible approach" to holding the people involved accountable as well as hopefully stopping people from wanting to incite a public brawl.

The first bill "establishes penalties for certain conduct related to public brawl and disorderly conduct," the second bill "establishes offense of inciting public brawl; upgrades penalty for disorderly conduct in certain circumstances." and the third bill "requires Attorney General establish training program for crowd management and provide resources to local law enforcement for large gatherings, flash mobs, or pop-up parties."

"Two of the bills that I am sponsoring will work to create a new charge in holding these individuals accountable," said Hutchison. "We will create a new charge for inciting a public brawl and organizing an event like we saw."

"We are committed to making sure these events can continue to happen and that you can feel safe attending them," Miller added.

As the investigation continues into the massive brawl during Gloucester Township Day, officials are asking anyone who may be able to provide information on any of the suspects to submit a tip anonymously to https://gtpolice.com/tips or email them to Police@GTPolice.com

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