40A:14-158. Special joint municipal police force

Any 2 or more municipalities abutting upon the ocean or coastal waters may create by reciprocal ordinances a special joint municipal police force to control the said waters abutting such municipalities, to secure the enforcement of the laws prohibiting the discharge of debris, refuse or any waste or other matter or material into or upon said waters from any vessel afloat thereon, which may or shall tend to litter any established bathing beach or any beach customarily used for bathing purposes or which may or shall tend to pollute the waters adjacent to any such beach, and may organize the said force into a police system to be known as the "Special Joint Municipal Police of " (Names of such municipalities)

The police system shall consist of a chief and such subordinate officers and patrolmen as shall be deemed necessary and proper to enforce the said laws.

The governing bodies of the municipalities having such ordinances shall adopt reciprocal rules and regulations for the appointment and compensation, and for the management and control of the members of such police system for the securing of their proper discipline and efficiency, and may provide for the joint acquisition and maintenance of necessary vessels for the use of the said force by purchase, lease or otherwise.

The members of such police force may arrest on or after view and without warrant, and take before a court having local criminal jurisdiction in any of such municipalities any person found within any of such municipalities to have violated or violating the said laws. The said members shall have all the powers conferred by law on police officers or constables in the enforcement of the laws of this State and the apprehension of violators thereof.

For the purposes of this section, the waters of this State abutting any municipality shall be deemed to be a part of the territory of such municipality.

L.1971, c. 197, s. 1, eff. July 1, 1971.