[HISTORY: Adopted by the Municipal Council of the City of
Taunton as Rev. Ords. 1964, §§ 12-12 to 12-14 and 12-16
to 12-18 (§§ 14-6 to 14-11, 14-16 to 14-20 and 14-24
of the 2010 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
No person shall expose in any street or upon any public ground,
or upon private ground in view of any street, any table or device
of any kind intended for playing a game of hazard or chance.
[Added 5-1-1984]
A.
Intent. In the interest of public safety, order, general good and
welfare of the community and in an attempt to prevent unlawful gambling
by the use of certain video or mechanical devices which because of
their design and manufacture can be used for unlawful gaming purposes,
the following section is hereby enacted.
B.
Gaming device defined. The term "gaming device," as used in this
section, shall be construed as meaning any device, video or mechanical,
designed to take currency or credit, manufactured and designed to
be played by a single individual at any one time, which is capable
of making a win or lose determination within seconds, based primarily
on the element of chance rather than on skill, whereby a win determination
may entitle the player to receive money or property. Specifically
included in this category, but without limitations, are so-called
poker video machines, blackjack video machines, and any device having
similar features.
[Amended 9-19-2011]
C.
Possession, keeping or storage prohibited. The possession or keeping
or storage of any gaming device as defined in this section is hereby
prohibited.
D.
Authorization of arrest and seizure. A police officer observing any
violation of this section shall have the authority to arrest without
a warrant the person in charge of said establishment, or vehicle,
and other persons present who are accomplices, and seize the gaming
devices as evidence.
E.
Penalty. Violators of this section shall be punishable by a fine
of not less than $200 per machine or violation.
F.
Forfeiture and disposal. Gaming devices seized under this section
shall be forfeited and disposed of in the manner provided under the
provisions of MGL c. 276.
[Amended 8-22-1967]
Any person who shall discard, throw, drop or otherwise place any waste, glass, metal, paper, plastic or other trash, rubbish or refuse in, within or upon any public way or private way within the City, or the water or shore of any inland waters within the City, or any premises owned or occupied by the City in any capacity, shall be punished as provided in § 1-5 of these Revised Ordinances, but it shall not be deemed a violation of this section for a resident of the City to place, or cause to be placed, on the sidewalk in front of his/her residence, any such refuse in appropriate containers for the purpose of being collected by a trash collector under contract to the City.
No person shall, in a street, willfully obstruct the free passage
of foot travelers.
No person shall, in any public place or street, make any indecent
figures or post or write any indecent words upon any fence, building,
wall, post, guidepost, signboard, awning or lamppost in or within
view of a street or other public place within the City.
No person, while on any inland waters within the City or on
the shores thereof, shall annoy or cause annoyance to another person,
or utter any indecent language or loud outcries, or do any indecent
act.
A.
No person shall enter upon the premises of another for the purpose
of committing any wanton or malicious act, nor for the purpose or
with the intention of invading the privacy of another by peeping into
the windows of a house or spying upon any person resident therein.
B.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to abridge or
in any way limit the right of a police officer to enter upon private
property or to perform any act in the performance of his official
duties.
[Added 2-1-1977]
A.
Whoever enters upon the school grounds and/or buildings in the City
without authority after 9:00 p.m. during the period from June 1 to
Labor Day and after 7:00 p.m. during the period from Labor Day until
May 31, and at such time as no public activity is scheduled, or during
daylight hours when school is not in session, shall be deemed a trespasser.
This section shall include trespass by the operation of a bicycle
or motor vehicle, including but not limited to a skimobile, minibike,
trail bike, automobile or other powered vehicle, on school grounds.
[Added 12-31-1984]
A.
Whoever enters upon the grounds of any park or playground under the
control of the Park and Recreation Department between sunset and sunrise,
except for purposes of attendance at a duly authorized public event
or with the express approval of the Park and Recreation Commission
or the Municipal Council or with the express approval of the Director
of the Park and Recreation Department or designee acting under authority
from the Park and Recreation Commission or the Municipal Council,
shall be deemed a trespasser. This section shall include trespass
by the operation of a bicycle or motor vehicle, including but not
limited to a skimobile, minibike, trail bike, automobile, or other
powered vehicle, on such grounds.
B.
Any such trespasser shall be subject to punishment as provided in § 1-5 of these Revised Ordinances.
C.
This section shall not apply to pedestrians or operators of nonmotorized
bicycles making use of Taunton Green and Church Green.
[Added 5-6-1980]
A.
Any officer authorized to make arrests may disperse, during the daytime
or nighttime, any assembly of three or more persons who are on a public
sidewalk or way, or in a public parking lot, or in a public place,
or who are in any place to which the public has a right of access,
or in any place to which members of the public have access as invitees,
and by their presence or conduct, or outcries, or noise, or accosting
persons of either sex, or throwing missiles or any object, or being
disorderly, or creating or threatening to create a disturbance of
the peace, or interfering with the free flow of pedestrian or vehicular
traffic to the detriment of the public welfare.
B.
Persons so assembled who do not disperse when ordered, or remain
within 500 feet of the place they were so directed to leave, may be
arrested by any officer authorized to make arrests. Persons so dispersed
who return to within 500 feet of the place they were so directed to
leave, prior to the expiration of two hours, may be arrested and charged
with failing to disperse.
C.
Any violation of this section shall be punishable by not less than
$100 and not more than $200. Any subsequent conviction within a twelve-month
period shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $200.
[Added 12-3-1974; amended 2-12-1980]
A.
No person shall drink alcoholic beverages as defined in MGL c. 138,
§ 1, while on, in or upon any public way, or upon any way
to which the public has a right of access, or any place to which the
public has access as invitees or licensees, park or playground, or
private land or place without the consent of the owner or person in
control thereof.
B.
All alcoholic beverages used in violation of this section shall be
seized and held until final adjudication of the charge against the
person arrested or summoned before the court.
[Added 7-30-2013]
A.
CONSUMED
PERSON
SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA
(1)
(2)
(3)
SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA ANALOGUE
(1)
(2)
(3)
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have
the meaning ascribed to them below:
Introduced into the human body by any manner, including but
not limited to inhalation and ingestion.
An individual, corporation, partnership, wholesaler, retailer
or any licensed or unlicensed business.
Any substance as defined by 21 U.S.C. § 812(c), Schedule
I, Subsection (d), excluding "marihuana" as such term is defined in
MGL c. 94C, § 1, 21 U.S.C. § 812(c), Schedule
I, Subsection (d), notwithstanding;[1]
Any one or any combination of the following cannabinoids, or
a substance containing any one or combination of the following cannabinoids:
JWH-018, JWH-073, CP-47, 497, JWH-200, or cannabicyclohexanol; or
Vegetable material that has been chemically treated and is possessed,
sold, or purchased with the intent that it will, despite any labeling
to the contrary, be consumed by humans for the purpose of voluntary
intoxication, said vegetable material typically having a retail price
of over $5 per ounce and contained within packaging indicating that
the content is not for human consumption, which, if consumed, may
induce an effect or effects of intoxication similar to a controlled
substance or imitation controlled substance, said effect or effects
to include elation, euphoria, dizziness, excitement, irrational behavior,
exhilaration, paralysis, stupefaction, dulling of the senses or nervous
system, or distortion of audio, visual or mental processes.
A substance:
The chemical structure of which is substantially similar to
the chemical structure of synthetic marijuana;
Which has a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect
on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to or
greater than the stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on
the central nervous system of synthetic marijuana; or
With respect to a particular person, which such person represents
or intends to have a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect
on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to or
greater than the stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on
the central nervous system of synthetic marijuana. [Reference: Modeled
after 21 U.S.C. §§ 802(32) and 813.]
B.
Prohibited activity.
(1)
No person shall sell, offer to sell, distribute, gift, or publicly
display for sale any synthetic marijuana or synthetic marijuana analogue.
(2)
No person shall knowingly possess or consume synthetic marijuana
or synthetic marijuana analogue.
(3)
This section shall apply regardless of whether the synthetic marijuana
or synthetic marijuana analogue is described as tobacco, herbs, incense,
spice, bath salts, plant food or any blend thereof, and regardless
of whether the substance is marketed for the purpose of being smoked
or ingested, and regardless of whether the substance is marked "not
for human consumption."
D.
Enforcement.
(1)
This section may be enforced by criminal complaint before the District
Court or by noncriminal disposition in accordance with MGL c. 40,
§ 21D.
(2)
A police officer may arrest without a warrant whomever there is probable
cause to believe is in willful violation of this section, pursuant
to MGL c. 272, § 59.
E.
Seizure of controlled substances. All controlled substances described
in this section may be seized and held until final adjudication, whereupon
they shall be destroyed by the seizing agency.
[Added 9-29-2015]
A.
Purpose.
(1)
The purpose of this section is to empower the City to police properties
that have become a public nuisance so elevated as to endanger the
common good and general welfare of a neighborhood or the City as a
whole.
(2)
This section is intended to provide a process to remedy nuisance
properties. This section is intended to afford relief from nuisance
properties to neighboring property owners, landlords, tenants and
the community as a whole. This section does not provide an exclusive
remedy and may be used in conjunction with any other ordinance, regulation
or law. This section does not replace, revise or amend any other existing
ordinance.
B.
CHIEF OF POLICE
DOCUMENTED CHARGE OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
NUISANCE PROPERTY BECAUSE OF DOCUMENTED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
REASONABLE EFFORTS TO ABATE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
RESPONSIBLE PERSON
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
The Chief of Police or Chief's designee.
Activity documented in a police report that has resulted
in either an arrest based upon probable cause or an application for
a criminal complaint by a police officer for a violation of the General
Laws related to firearms, illegal drug use and other violations of
MGL c. 94C, prostitution, trespassing, disorderly conduct, disturbing
the peace or loitering.
A property to which police have come more than four times
in any twelve-month period resulting in a documented charge of criminal
activity. A property may be deemed a nuisance property if it is reasonably
determined by the Chief of Police to be a cause of criminal activity
on or in the immediate area of the property. No incident shall be
counted toward the incident limit if the Chief of Police reasonably
determines that doing so would discourage crime reporting, provide
a disincentive for a crime victim to call police, or for any other
reason not inconsistent with the purpose of this section.
C.
Violation. The responsible person associated with a nuisance property
because of documented criminal activity is in violation of this section.
This section shall not apply to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
or any of its political subdivisions.
D.
Enforcement.
(1)
The enforcement officer for this section shall be the Chief of Police.
(2)
The Chief of Police shall determine which properties are nuisance
properties because of documented criminal activity. Upon such a determination
the Chief shall issue a written notice to the responsible person at
the owner's address as reflected in the records of the City Assessor.
The notice shall sufficiently identify the property and the criminal
activity giving rise to the nuisance property determination and include
a copy of the police reports for each instance of criminal activity
that serves as the basis for the determination.
(3)
The notice may contain a plan to abate the criminal activity at the
property and the notice may contain a request that the responsible
person contact the Chief to discuss a plan to abate the criminal-related
activity. By way of illustration and not limitation, a plan may include
the installation of lighting, the installation of fencing, the installation
of "No Trespassing" signs, the installation of "No Loitering" signs,
lawful eviction of tenants through MGL c. 139, § 19, or
other lawful means. The plan must be reasonable in cost and scope,
taking into account the nature and use of the property and the nature
and type of the criminal-related activity. The notice shall contain
a warning that fines may be assessed against the responsible person
in the absence of reasonable efforts to abate the criminal activity.
(4)
If, after the written notice, the responsible person has not made
reasonable efforts to abate the criminal activity, the Chief may issue
a citation and assess fines in the following amounts:
(5)
The fifth incident of a documented charge of criminal activity as
defined above shall be the first violation, the sixth incident shall
be the second violation, and so on. Said fines shall constitute local
charges for the purposes of MGL c. 40, § 58.
E.
Appeal. Any person aggrieved by a determination that the person is
a responsible person, by a determination that a property is a nuisance
property hereunder, or by the receipt of a citation may appeal, in
writing, to the Committee on Police and License of the Municipal Council.
The decision of the Committee shall be the final decision of the City
of Taunton. Any person aggrieved by the imposition of a fine may appeal
in accordance with the provisions of MGL c. 40, § 21D.