This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Curfew
Ordinance."
The Borough Council has found that the number and seriousness
of crimes committed by minors against persons and property within
the Borough is increasing and has created a menace to the preservation
of public peace, safety, health, morals and welfare. The purpose of
this chapter is to prescribe, in accordance with prevailing community
standards, regulations for the conduct of minors on streets at night
for the good of minors, for the furtherance of family responsibility
and for the public good, safety and welfare.
It shall be unlawful for any person 17 or less years of age
(under 18) to be or remain in or upon the streets within the Borough
of Darby at night during the period ending at 5:00 a.m. and beginning
at 10:30 p.m. during the days Sunday through Thursday, inclusive,
and at 11:00 p.m. during the days Friday and Saturday.
In the following exceptional cases a minor on a Borough street during the curfew hours for which §
61-4 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 the Curfew Ordinance.
A. When accompanied by a parent of such minor.
B. 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.
C. 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 the Mayor at the Borough Municipal
Building, 821 Summit Street, Darby, a written communication signed
by such minor and countersigned, if practicable, by a parent of such
minor with their 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 the hours when the Curfew
Ordinance is otherwise applicable to said minor) in the exercise of
a First Amendment right.
D. In case of reasonable necessity, but only after such minor's parent
has communicated to the Borough municipal building 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 Borough
municipal 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 addresses of such parent and minor, shall be
admissible evidence.
E. 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.
F. 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 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.
G. When authorized by special permit from the Mayor, carried on the person of the minor thus authorized, as follows. When normal or 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
H 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 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 behalf in an emergency at the police station.
H. When authorized by regulation issued by the Mayor, as in other similar
cases of reasonable necessity, but adapted to 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 it 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 Curfew Ordinance.
I. 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 home and of his
place of employment and his hours of employment.
J. When the minor is, with parental consent, in a motor vehicle. This
contemplates normal travel. This exempts bona fide interstate movement
through the Borough of Darby. This also exempts interstate travel
beginning or ending in the Borough of Darby.
K. When the minor is 17 years of age and when the Mayor shall have determined
by formal rule first reported to Borough Council and spread upon its
minutes and so reported to the press that the Curfew Ordinance should
be relaxed because of a great decline in juvenile delinquency in this
age group, then the Mayor, by such formal rule covering a period of
time designated therein or until recision thereof, may take appropriate
action excepting designated minors 17 years of age at that date or
those attaining 17 years of age during the period that such formal
rule is and remains in effect.
L. Each of the foregoing exceptions and their several limitations are
severable.
M. The Mayor and Council, in exercising the provisions of this chapter
and in considering amendments or exceptions, shall consider the views
of student government associations, school personnel, citizens, associations,
ward, precinct and neighborhood spokesmen, parents, officers and persons
in authority concerned with minors.
It shall be unlawful for a parent having legal custody of a
minor to knowingly permit or by inefficient control to allow such
minor to be or remain upon any Borough street under circumstances
not constituting an exception to or otherwise beyond the scope of
the Curfew Ordinance. 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 policeman of the Borough, upon finding or having attention
called to any minor on the streets in prima facie violation of the
Curfew Ordinance, normally shall take the minor to the Borough Police
Station where a parent shall immediately be notified to come for such
minor. This is intended to permit ascertainment, under constitutional
safeguards, of relevant facts and to centralize responsibility in
the officer there and then on duty for accurate, fair, impartial and
uniform enforcement and recording. In the absence of convincing evidence
such as a birth certificate, a policeman on the street shall in the
first instance use his best judgment in determining age.
A. 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 identity and address may readily be
ascertained or are known.
B. In any event, such policeman shall, within 24 hours, file a written
report with the Chief of Police.
C. 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.
No operator of an establishment or their agents or employees
shall knowingly permit any minor to remain upon the premises of said
establishment between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. of the
following day, except that on Fridays and Saturdays the hours shall
be from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
The provisions of the Curfew Ordinance are severable. If any
provision, exception, part, phrase or term or the application thereof
to any person or circumstances shall be invalid or unconstitutional,
the validity of the balance of the Curfew Ordinance in any and all
other respects shall not be affected thereby. 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
the ordinance 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 at the
Borough Administration Building questioning any ambiguity; any provision,
phrase or term having a potentially chilling effect on constitutional
rights specifically invoked or any other invalidity in 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 the Curfew Ordinance be held inapplicable in such cases, if any,
where its application would be unconstitutional. A constitutional
construction is intended and shall be given. 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 the Curfew Ordinance.
A. Accordingly, there shall be compiled and informally reported to the
Borough Council through Borough administrative personnel, as designated
by the Mayor, all exceptional cases hereunder of 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 Borough Council, in further updating and in continuing the evaluation
of the Curfew Ordinance.
B. To foster a good community spirit among both adults and minors, the
Mayor and relevant committees of the Borough Council shall work with
existing volunteer groups and may organize volunteer groups and shall
stimulate volunteer leadership in neighborhood programs that will
promote such community spirit.