[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Dormont 8-1-1994 by Ord. No. 1433. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Curfew
Ordinance."
This chapter prescribes, in accordance with prevailing community
standards, regulations for the conduct of minors on streets at night,
effectively enforced, taught in the homes, internalized and adhered
to for generations, all for the good of minors, for the furtherance
of family responsibility and for the public good, safety and welfare.
A.
The Council finds that the curfew meets a very real local need, has
been, over the years, a significant factor in minimizing juvenile
delinquency and should be updated and amplified in the light of Dormont's
local situation and facts.
B.
The Council finds that compact Dormont is not overcrowded. Population
density, as reflected in the Borough Comprehensive Plan, varies by
neighborhood. Adequate indoor living space permits minors in Dormont
to healthfully occupy their time. Commercial recreational facilities
are almost nonexistent, and there is little or nothing for minors
to do outdoors but roam the streets after the curfew hours which this
chapter declares.
C.
Dormont is a stable family community. Parental responsibility for
the whereabouts of children is the norm; legal sanctions to enforce
such responsibility have had a demonstrated effectiveness over the
years; as parental control increases, the likelihood of juvenile delinquency
decreases; and there is a continuing need for the nocturnal curfew
for minors, which has achieved and will continue to achieve, under
local conditions, the purposes hereinbefore stated.
A.
BOROUGH
MINOR
PARENT
REMAIN
STREET
TIME OF NIGHT
YEAR OF AGE
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words
and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein:
The Borough of Dormont, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, with
administrative offices at 1444 Hillsdale Avenue, Dormont, Pennsylvania
15216.[1]
Any person under the age of 18 or, in equivalent phrasing
often herein employed, any person 17 or fewer years of age.
Any person having legal custody of a minor:
To stay behind, to tarry and to stay unnecessarily upon the streets, including the congregating of groups (or of interacting minors) totaling four or more persons, in which any minor involved would not be using the streets for ordinary or serious purposes, such as mere passage or going home. To implement that thought with additional precision and precaution, numerous exceptions are expressly defined in § 88-5. More and more exceptions become available with increasing years as appropriate in the interest of reasonable regulation which is intended by use of the meaningful phrase "be or remain" found constitutional in Baker v. Borough of Steelton, 17 Dauph. 17 (1912).
A way or place, of whatever nature, open to the use of the
public for purposes of vehicular travel or, in the case of a sidewalk
thereof, for pedestrian travel. The term "street" includes the legal
right-of-way, including but not limited to the cartway of traffic
lanes, the curb, the sidewalks, whether paved or unpaved, and any
grass plots or other grounds found within the legal right-of-way of
a street. The term "street" also applies, for curfew purposes, to
ways the public is privileged to use over private property so long
as the owner permits, including sidewalks and grass plots similarly
open at the time to public use, and to parking areas of any type (residential,
municipal or commercial) open to public use or from such street or
any type of street. The term "street" applies irrespective of what
it is called or formally named, whether "alley," "avenue," "court,"
"road" or otherwise, or whether it is maintained by the Borough, and
irrespective of whether it is open to the use of the public as a matter
of right.
Based upon the prevailing standard of time, whether Eastern
standard time or Eastern daylight saving time, generally observed
at that hour by the public in the Borough, prima facie the time then
observed in the Borough administrative offices and police station.
Continues from one birthday, such as the 17th, to (but not
including the day of) the next, such as the 18th birthday, making
it clear that 17 or fewer years of age is herein treated as equivalent
to the phrase "under 18 years of age," the latter phrase in practice,
unfortunately, having confused a number of persons into the mistaken
thought that eighteen-year-olds might be involved. Similarly, for
example, 11 or fewer years of age means under 12 years of age.
B.
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present
tense include the future, words in the plural number include the singular,
and words in the singular number include the plural. The word "shall"
is always mandatory and not merely directory.
It shall be unlawful for any person 17 or fewer years of age
(under 18) to be or remain in or upon the streets within the Borough
of Dormont at night during the period ending at 6:00 a.m. and beginning:
A.
In the following exceptional cases, a minor on a street within the Borough during the nocturnal hours for which § 88-4 is intended to provide the maximum limits of regulation (and a clear general guide for minors, their parents and their fellow citizens) shall not, however, be considered in violation of this chapter:
(1)
When accompanied by a parent of such minor.
(2)
When accompanied by an adult authorized by a parent of such minor
to take said parent's place in accompanying said minor for a
designated period of time and purpose within a specified area.
(3)
When 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. Such minor shall evidence the bona fides
of such exercise by first delivering to communications center personnel
at the Borough Municipal Building at 1444 Hillsdale Avenue, where
and by whom high priority messages to the Mayor are regularly received,
a written communication, signed by such minor and countersigned, if
practicable, by a parent of such minor, with his or her home address
and telephone number, addressed to the Mayor of the Borough, specifying
when, where and in what manner said minor will be on the streets at
night (during hours when this chapter is otherwise applicable to said
minor) in the exercise of a First Amendment right specified in such
communication.[1]
(4)
In case of reasonable necessity, but only after such minor's
parent has communicated to the Borough police station personnel the
facts establishing such reasonable necessity, relating to specified
streets at a designated time for a described purpose, including points
of origin and destination. A copy of such communication or of the
police record thereof duly certified by the Chief of Police to be
correct, with an appropriate notation of the time it was received
and of the names and address of such parent and minor, shall be admissible
evidence.
(5)
When the minor is on the sidewalk of the place where such minor resides
or on the sidewalk of either next-door neighbor not communicating
an objection to the police officer.
(6)
When returning home by a direct route from (and within 30 minutes
of the termination of) a school activity or an activity of a religious
or other voluntary association of which prior notice, indicating the
place and probable time of termination, has been given, in writing,
to and duly filed for immediate reference by the Chief of Police or
the officer assigned by him or her on duty at the police station,
thus encouraging (here as in other exceptional situations) conduct
on the part of minors involved in such activities and striking a fair
balance for any somewhat conflicting interests.
(7)
When authorized, by special permit from the Mayor, carried on the person of the minor thus authorized, as follows: When necessary nighttime activities of a minor may be inadequately provided for by other provisions of this chapter, then recourse may be had to the Mayor of the Borough, either for a regulation as provided in Subsection A(8) or for a special permit as the circumstances warrant. Upon the Mayor's finding of necessity for the use of the streets to the extent warranted by a written application (as judicially approved in People v. Walton, 161 P. 2d 498, 502-503, Cal. App. 1945), signed by a minor and by a parent of such minor, if feasible, stating the name, age and address of such minor; the name, address and telephone number of a parent thereof; the height, weight, sex, color of eyes and hair and other physical characteristics of such minor; the necessity which requires such minor to remain upon the streets during the curfew hours otherwise applicable; and the street or route and the beginning and ending of the period of time involved by date and hour, the Mayor may grant a permit, in writing, for the use by such minor of such streets at such hours as, in the Mayor's opinion, may reasonably be necessary. In an emergency, this may be handled by telephone or other effective communication, with a corresponding record being made contemporaneously, either to the Mayor or, if unavailable, to the police officer authorized by the Mayor to act on his or her behalf in an emergency at the police station.
(8)
When authorized, by regulation issued by the Mayor, in other similar
cases of reasonable necessity, similarly handled but adopted to necessary
nighttime activities of more minors than can readily be dealt with
on an individual special permit basis. Normally, such regulation by
the Mayor permitting use of the streets should be issued sufficiently
in advance to permit appropriate publicity through news media and
through other agencies such as the schools and shall define the activity,
the scope of the use of the streets permitted, the period of time
involved, not to extend more than 30 minutes beyond the time for termination
of such activity, and the reason for finding that such regulation
is reasonably necessary and is consistent with the purposes of this
chapter.
(9)
When the minor carries a certified card of employment, renewable
each calendar month when the current facts so warrant, dated or reissued
not more than 45 days previously, signed by the Chief of Police, and
briefly identifying the minor, the addresses of his or her home and
of his or her place of employment and his or her hours of employment.
(10)
When the minor is, with parental consent, in a motor vehicle. This
contemplates normal travel. From excess of caution, this clearly exempts
bona fide interstate movement through Dormont. This also exempts interstate
travel beginning or ending in Dormont.
(11)
When the minor is 17 years of age, if and when the Mayor shall have
determined, by formal rule first reported to the Borough Council,
spread upon its minutes and so reported in the press, finding the
facts as to the extent (minimal) of juvenile delinquency in such age
group permitting such rule, currently, in the best interest of said
minors and of the Borough, then the Mayor, by such formal rule, covering
a period of time designated therein or until rescission thereof, not
exceeding one year from the date thereof, may take appropriate action
excepting designated minors, minors in a defined group or area or
all minors (as the current facts may warrant) 17 years of age at the
date or attaining 17 years of age during the period that such formal
rule is and remains in effect.
B.
Each of the foregoing exceptions and their several limitations, such
as provisions for notification, are severable, as hereinafter provided
but here reemphasized; and additional, also severable, exceptions,
broadening with the progress toward maturity of minors enrolled respectively
in elementary, junior high and high schools, will be considered by
the Council as warranted by future experience illuminated by the views
of student government associations; school personnel; citizens; associations;
ward, precinct and neighborhood spokesmen; parents; officers; and
persons in authority concerned positively with minors as well as with
juvenile delinquency.
It shall be unlawful for a parent having legal custody of a
minor knowingly to permit or by inefficient control to allow such
minor to be or remain upon any street within the Borough under circumstances
not constituting an exception to or otherwise beyond the scope of
this chapter. The term "knowingly" includes knowledge which a parent
should reasonably be expected to have concerning the whereabouts of
a minor in that parent's legal custody. It is intended to continue
to keep neglectful or careless parents up to a reasonable community
standard of parental responsibility through an objective test. It
shall, a fortiori, be no defense that a parent was completely indifferent
to the activities or conduct or whereabouts of such minor.
A.
A policeman of the Borough, upon finding or having attention called
to any minor on the streets in prima facie violation of this chapter,
normally shall take the minor to the Borough police station, where
a parent shall immediately be notified to come for such minor, whereupon
they shall be interrogated. This is intended to permit ascertainment,
under constitutional safeguards, of relevant facts and to centralize
responsibility in the Sergeant there and then on duty for accurate,
effective, fair, impartial and uniform enforcement and recording,
thus making available experienced supervisory personnel, the best
of facilities and access to information and records. In the absence
of convincing evidence, such as a birth certificate, a policeman on
the street shall, in the first instance, use his or her best judgment
in determining age.
B.
Police procedures shall constantly be refined in the light of experience
and may provide, inter alia, that the policeman may deliver to a parent
thereof a minor under appropriate circumstances, for example a minor
of tender age near home whose identify and address may readily be
ascertained or are known.
C.
In any event, such policeman shall, within 24 hours, file a written
report with the Chief of Police or shall participate, to the extent
of the information for which he or she is responsible, in the preparation,
by himself or herself and the Sergeant involved in such case, and
in filing of such report within 24 hours.
D.
When a parent, immediately called, has come to take charge of the
minor and the appropriate information has been recorded, the minor
shall be released to the custody of such parent. If the parent cannot
be located or fails to take charge of the minor, then the minor shall
be released to the juvenile authorities, except to the extent that,
in accordance with police regulations, approved in advance by juvenile
authorities, the minor may temporarily be entrusted to a relative,
neighbor or other person who will, on behalf of a parent, assume the
responsibility of caring for the minor pending the availability or
arrival of a parent.
E.
In the case of a first violation by a minor, the Chief of Police
shall, by certified mail, send to a parent written notice of said
violation, with a warning that any subsequent violation will result
in full enforcement of this chapter, including enforcement of parental
responsibility and of applicable penalties.
Prevailing community standards and the real internalization
thereof or interpersonal sanctions therefor that, in practice, count
for much as to when minors should be off the streets, reflected in
this chapter, are hereby undergirded with the following legal sanctions:
A.
After the warning notice of a first violation by a minor pursuant to § 88-7, any parent in violation of § 88-6 (in connection with a second violation by said minor) shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction, or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed and the costs, the defendant may be sentenced and committed to the Borough correctional facility for a period not exceeding 10 days or to the county correctional facility for a period not exceeding 30 days. Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section, the Borough may enforce this chapter in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County.[1]
B.
Any minor who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter
more than three times shall be reported by the Mayor to a society
or organization whose purpose it is to take charge of incorrigibles
and delinquents, and proceedings shall then be taken, under the Juvenile
Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6301 et seq., before the Juvenile Court
for the treatment, supervision and rehabilitation of such minor.
C.
A like procedure before the juvenile authorities shall be followed
in any case where the imposing of a fine or fines upon a parent shall
not be effective or where, for any other reason, the provisions of
this chapter cannot be made effective by the imposing of penalties
under this section.
Severability is intended throughout and within the provisions
of this chapter. If any provision, including, inter alia, any exception,
part, phrase or term or the application thereof to any person or circumstance,
is held invalid, the application to other persons or circumstances
shall not be affected thereby, and the validity of this chapter, in
any and all other respects, shall not be affected thereby. From excess
of caution, the Mayor is authorized to give advisory opinions, in
writing or immediately reduced to writing, which shall be binding
and shall be adhered to by the police until this chapter is amended
in such respect, interpreting terms, phrases, parts or any provisions.
Normally, such advisory opinions shall be in response to good faith,
signed letters, addressed to him or her at the Borough administration
building, questioning as ambiguous, as having a potentially chilling
effect on constitutional rights specifically invoked or as otherwise
invalid, in all three categories with respect to proposed conduct
definitely described. This administrative remedy must be exhausted
prior to presenting to any court a question in any of said three categories.
The Borough Council does not intend a result that is absurd, impossible
of execution or unreasonable. It is intended that this chapter be
held inapplicable in such cases, if any, where its application would
be unconstitutional. A constitutional construction is intended and
shall be given. The Council does not intend to violate the Constitution
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the Constitution of the United
States of America.
The Borough Council will continue its evaluation and updating
of this chapter.
A.
Accordingly, there shall be compiled and informally reported to the
Borough Council through effective channels (such as the normal monthly
distribution by the Borough Manager to each Councilman, the Mayor
and the Borough Solicitor of noteworthy material) all exceptional
cases hereunder for reasonable necessity, the notices of school and
other activities, the Mayor's special permits and the Mayor's
regulations hereinbefore authorized and the Mayor's advisory
opinions for consideration by the appropriate committee and by the
Borough Council in further updating and continuing evaluation of this
chapter.[1]
B.
For the same reasons, as well as for the implementation beyond these
legal aspects of the basic purposes hereof, the Mayor and relevant
committees of the Borough Council, through their respective Chairmen,
in coordinated efforts, shall work with existing and may organize
voluntary groups and shall stimulate volunteer leadership in programs
of research and of action dealing constructively, on neighborhood
and local bases, with juvenile delinquency and the prevention, control
or containment thereof in all its ramifications and with practicable
steps toward the good life and a better life for minors 17 or fewer
years of age and with the working of this chapter, community-wise
and in individual cases, as one much needed legal tool toward that
end as well as for continuing present protection of minors and of
other persons and of property and other interests important to the
welfare of the people of the Borough of Dormont.
