a. “Commission” means the Police Training Commission established in the Department of Law and Public Safety pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1961, c.56 (C. 52:17B-70);

b. “Emergency” means any sudden, unexpected or unforeseeable event requiring the immediate use or deployment of law enforcement personnel as shall be determined by the chief of police, or in the absence of the chief, other chief law enforcement officer or the mayor or the mayor’s designee or, in the case of a county, the county executive or freeholder director or designee, as appropriate, to whom the authority of designating an “emergency” has been prescribed by local ordinance or resolution, as appropriate. Vacations, shortages in police personnel caused by vacancies unfilled by the appointing authority for more than 60 days, or any other condition which could reasonably have been anticipated or foreseen shall not constitute an “emergency” for the purposes of this act; but an “emergency” may continue for the purposes of this act when a vacancy remains unfilled for more than 60 days and when, on application of the appointing authority, the county prosecutor grants an extension for one or more additional 60-day periods upon a showing by the appointing authority of a diligent, good faith effort to fill the vacancy;

c. “Local unit” means any municipality or county having established a regular police force pursuant to law;

d. “Population” means the population of the resort municipality shown in the last federal decennial census;

e. “Public entity” means the State and any county, municipality, district, public authority, public agency and any other political subdivision or public body in the State;

f. “Resort municipality” means a municipality which, because of its recreational or entertainment characteristics or facilities or its close proximity to such characteristics or facilities, experiences a substantial increase during the seasonal period in the number of persons visiting or temporarily residing there;

g. “Seasonal period” means any one period of four consecutive months during the calendar year, except with regard to a resort municipality bordering on the Atlantic ocean, in which case, “seasonal period” means one period of six consecutive months during the calendar year;

h. “Special law enforcement officer” means any person appointed pursuant to this act to temporarily or intermittently perform duties similar to those performed regularly by members of a police force of a local unit, or to provide assistance to a police force during unusual or emergency circumstances, or at individual times or during regular seasonal periods in resort municipalities; and

i. “County college” means an educational institution established or to be established by one or more counties, offering programs of instruction, extending not more than two years beyond the high school, which may include but need not be limited to specialized or comprehensive curriculums, including college credit transfer courses, terminal courses in the liberal arts and sciences, and technical institute type programs; the term shall include a county vocational school.

L.1985, c.439, s.2; amended 1987, c.96, s.1; 2013, c.21, s.2; 2019, c.51, s.1.