East Brunswick Strengthens Hotel Security Measures To Deter Criminal Activity

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – During the last meeting, council introduced an ordinance that aims to deter criminal activity in hotel and motel establishments.

The “Hotels & Motels Operations” ordinance seeks to establish certain safety and security requirements.

It gives the township the power to license and regulate hotels, boardinghouses, lodging and rooming houses, trailer camps and camp sites, motels, furnished and unfurnished rented housing or living units and all other places and buildings.

All owners and operators will be required to undergo a background investigation before a license to operate is issued by the township.

The term of license shall be for one year and will be renewed each year thereafter, without being transferable.

The annual fee for each license shall be $75 plus $25 per each unit containing sleeping quarters for units one to 10; $15 for units 11 to 20; $10 unit thereafter.

Each guest has to submit proper identification at the time of checking in. The operator shall maintain a record log and photocopy of the identification produced by the guest.

The ordinance allows officers to conduct inspection.

According to officials the ordinance was important to the township, as local police spent a lot of time and resources annually related to criminal activities occurring at hotels and motels.

“The ordinance is beneficial not only to the hotel and motel establishments, it's also beneficial to the police department, and the residents, because we're going to be able to free up resources to be able to direct them to other areas of town that are in need of police services,” explained Lt. Jason Fama, who was instrumental in drafting the ordinance along with the township’s legal team.

Councilman James Wendell said the township’s legal team took a lot of time vetting the ordinance to make sure that it would be enforceable.

The enforcement of the ordinance is expected to be primarily handled by the police department, with some potential involvement from code enforcement.

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