The purpose of this chapter is to:
A. Promote the general welfare and protect the general public through
the reduction of juvenile crime within the Borough;
B. Promote the safety and well being of the Borough's youngest
citizens, persons under the age of 18, whose inexperience renders
them particularly vulnerable to becoming participants in unlawful
activities, particularly vandalism, and to being victimized by older
perpetrators of crime; and
C. Foster and strengthen parental responsibility for children.
As used within this chapter, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings ascribed to them below:
CURFEW HOURS
Refers to the hours of 11:00 p.m. through 6:00 a.m.
EMERGENCY
Refers to unforeseen circumstances, or the status or condition
resulting therefrom, requiring immediate action to safeguard life,
limb or property. The term includes, but is not limited to, fires,
natural disasters, automobile accidents, or other similar circumstances.
ESTABLISHMENT
Refers to any privately owned place of business within the
Borough operated for a profit, to which the public is invited, including
but not limited to any place of amusement or entertainment. With respect
to such establishment, the term "operator" shall mean any person,
and any firm, association, partnership (and the members or partners
thereof) and/or any corporation (and the officers thereof) conducting
or managing that establishment.
MINOR
Refers to any person under 18 years of age who has not been
emancipated by court order.
OFFICER
Refers to a police or other law enforcement officer charged
with the duty of enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and/or ordinances of the Borough.
PARENT
Refers to:
A.
A person who is a minor's biological or adoptive parent
and who has legal custody of a minor (including either parent, if
custody is shared under a court order or agreement);
B.
A person who is the biological or adoptive parent with whom
a minor regularly resides;
C.
A person judicially appointed as a legal guardian of the minor;
and/or
D.
A person 18 years of age or older standing in loco parentis (as indicated by the authorization of an individual listed in Subsection
A,
B or
C of this definition, above, for the person to assume the care or physical custody of the child, or as indicated by any other circumstances).
PERSON
Refers to an individual, not to any association, corporation,
or any other legal entity.
PUBLIC PLACE
Refers to any place to which the public or a substantial
group of the public has access, including but not limited to streets,
highways, roads, sidewalks, alleys, avenues, parks, and/or the common
areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transportation
facilities and shops.
REMAIN
Refers to the following actions:
A.
To linger or stay at or upon a place; and/or
B.
To fail to leave a place when requested to do so by an officer
or by the owner, operator, or other person in control of that place.
TEMPORARY CARE FACILITY
Refers to a nonlocked, nonrestrictive shelter at which minors
may wait, under visual supervision, to be retrieved by a parent. No
minors waiting in such facility shall be handcuffed and/or secured
(by handcuffs or otherwise) to any stationary object.
It shall be unlawful for a minor, during curfew hours, to remain
in or upon any public place within the Borough, to remain in any motor
vehicle operating or parked therein or thereon, or to remain in or
upon the premises of any establishment within the Borough, unless:
A. The minor is accompanied by a parent; or
B. The minor is involved in an emergency; or
C. The minor is engaged in an employment activity, or is going to or
returning home from such activity, without detour or stop; or
D. The minor is on the sidewalk directly abutting a place where he or
she with a parent resides; or
E. The minor is attending an activity sponsored by a school, religious,
or civic organization, by a public organization or agency, or by another
similar organization or entity, which activity is supervised by adults,
and/or the minor is going to or returning from such an activity without
detour or stop; or
F. The minor is on an errand at the direction of a parent, and the minor
has in his or her possession a writing signed by the parent containing
the following information: the name, signature, address and telephone
number of the parent authorizing the errand, the telephone number
where the parent may be reached during the errand, the name of the
minor, and a brief description of the errand, the minor's destination(s)
and the hours the minor is authorized to be engaged in the errand;
or
G. The minor is involved in interstate travel through, or beginning
or terminating in, the Borough; or
H. The minor is exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United
States Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, freedom
of speech and the right of assembly.
It shall be unlawful for a minor's parent to knowingly permit, allow or encourage such minor to violate above §
70-3.
It shall be unlawful for a person who is the owner or operator
of any motor vehicle to knowingly permit, allow or encourage a violation
of above section (B).
It shall be unlawful for the operator of any establishment,
or for any person who is an employee thereof, to knowingly permit,
allow or encourage a minor to remain upon the premises of the establishment
during curfew hours. It shall be a defense to prosecution under this
section that the operator or employee of an establishment promptly
notified the Police Department that a minor was present at the establishment
after curfew hours and refused to leave.
It shall be unlawful for any person (including any minor) to
give a false name, address, or telephone number to any officer investigating
a possible violation of this section.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter
shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not
more than $200 and costs of prosecution. If any person shall be in
default of payment of such fine and costs, such person may be sentenced
to imprisonment for not more than five days.