Car thefts have been on the rise across New Jersey and the country since the start of the pandemic.

Law enforcement has struggled to address the crisis.

But this week, New Jersey legislators passed a package of bills aimed at deterring auto thieves and keeping repeat offenders off the streets.

But some critics are calling the bills regressive, saying that tough on crime laws will create racial disparities in policing.

Senior political correspondent David Cruz was at the governor's bill signing ceremony today where lawmakers insisted the new laws are necessary to keep New Jersey drivers safe.

For so many of us, our cars are our lifeline.

New Jersey loves its cars.

Depends on them.

Really.

So having your car stolen can have a real impact on your life.

Lawmakers determined that a COVID era uptick in car thefts represented a crisis.

Despite evidence from the attorney general that car thefts were already falling.

Legislative leaders went ahead and passed a package of bills they say are a direct response to the crisis.

At today's bill signing, the attorney general said the results have been positive.

But we know that it's not unique to any one community.

It's been an urban problem.

It's been a suburban problem, and it's been a statewide issue.

The bills get tough on car thieves who use certain technologies to steal cars.

Those who lead car theft rings and repeat offenders.

It also takes away the presumption of pretrial release for anyone who's been arrested within 90 days of a previous arrest.

A direct contradiction to the state's heralded bail reforms.

Murphy says he doesn't see it that way.

We're talking here about persistent offenders who are part of a criminal network, and I call it a tweak because I think it is a tweak.

A tweak is a tweak.

But I want to be as forceful as I can to say that we have zero appetite to deal with this more broadly.

But then it's the question of a slippery slope.

Hey, this is worthy of having a tweak.

Yeah.

I asked our I asked our team the same question, David.

And I said, I'm not going to do this if it's if it's death by a thousand cuts.

We have no plans, zero plans to take any other steps along those lines.

The critics on the left are saying that the governor and Democrats in the legislature based these bills on a false narrative and will find that they are regressive and hurt those who are already getting crushed by the legal system.

Bill reform reduced the pretrial jail population from about 9000 to just over 4000 people in the first months of the pandemic.

And we know there's been some changes since because of slowdowns and trials.

But by all measures, bail reform has been a massive success.

Law enforcement has been already working on this issue.

And so all of that is decreased.

So there's no need to have further legislation that will increase attention, will increase incarceration in a state that has the most stark racial disparities in incarceration in the whole country.

The perceived false choice is it's either or.

It is.

Absolutely.

And both.

We will doggedly continue to address inequities, but at the same time, we have to be smart about law enforcement.

And I think these bills do just that.

But many observers say Democrats are looking to the fall's legislative elections, where senators like Vin Gopal, whose home town today's event was held, could face pressure from more conservative voters to get tough on crime.

Even if the evidence says crime is already on the run.

I'm David Cruz.

NJ Spotlight News.