[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
West Grove 7-1-1998 by Ord. No.
1998-05. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Peace and good order — See Ch. 296.
The purpose of this chapter is:
A.
To create a safe, clean and law-abiding environment in and about
the Borough, its public streets, sidewalks, parking lots, parks and
other public areas;
B.
To promote the Borough, as a safe, drug-free and peaceful place where
citizens can visit and access all businesses, churches, neighborhoods
and public accommodations and use public property without fear of
obstruction, molestation or interference;
C.
To exercise the police power to maintain the peace and public health,
safety and welfare by regulating activities that interfere with others
as stringently as possible, within the mandates of constitutionally
protected rights; and
D.
To prohibit unsafe, threatening and aggressive loitering and not
the innocent customary activity of citizens.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated unless a different meaning clearly appears from
the context:
Remaining idle essentially in and about a particular area;
lingering; spending time idly; loafing or walking about aimlessly
in one vicinity or neighborhood; "hanging around"; sauntering or moving
slowly about where the conduct is not due to physical condition or
defect; prowling or wandering, irrespective of whether the conduct
is on foot or in, on, or by way of parked or moving vehicle.
Any place to which the public has access including any public
street, sidewalk, alley, way, parking lot, park or other public ground
within the Borough or in or about the areas in front of or adjacent
to any building or structure used in whole or in part for dwelling
or rooming or boarding purposes or for business, amusement, commercial,
mercantile, manufacturing, industrial, storage, education, recreational
or religious purposes, including but not limited to a school, store,
restaurant, tavern or other business.
No person shall loiter in a public place in such a manner as
to:
A.
Hinder or obstruct the free passage of pedestrians, persons or property
to or from any entrance to or exit of a building, structure or vehicle
and fail or refuse to move or disperse when asked to do so by a police
officer;
B.
Create or cause to be created a danger of breach of the peace or
otherwise create a concern for or threaten the safety of a person
or security of property; or
C.
Molest or interfere with any person lawfully in any public place,
including but not limited to the making of unsolicited remarks of
an offensive, disgusting or insulting nature, or which are calculated
to annoy, disturb or threaten the person to, or in whose hearing,
the remarks are made.
The police shall enforce these loitering regulations. In some
cases there will be no doubt that the prohibited activity has occurred,
such as in the obstruction of free and safe access and passage through
or upon a public way. With the other types of prohibited loitering,
the police shall make a determination as to whether the activity warrants
a concern for the safety of persons or security of property in the
vicinity. In determining whether concern is warranted, the police
may consider the following circumstances as tending to warrant concern:
A.
The person, upon appearance of a police officer, takes flight, attempts
to conceal himself or herself or any object, or refuses to identify
himself or herself and explain his or her presence and conduct after
a request;
B.
The person systematically checks doors, windows or other means of
ingress or egress to a building, structure or a vehicle;
C.
Activity by the person which outwardly manifests no useful purpose
or and is not usual for a law-abiding or peace-abiding person;
D.
The continuous or repeated presence of a person in close proximity
to a building, structure, vehicle or other property, or in close proximity
to another person for a period of time not usual under the circumstances;
or
E.
The time of day when or the place where the activity occurs is inappropriate
for the activity observed.
A.
Where an officer has determined that the person's actions create
a concern for the safety of another person or the public or security
of property, the person whose conduct causes the concern shall be
given an opportunity to dispel the concern by identifying himself
or herself and explaining his or her presence and conduct. The actor
shall not be given this opportunity if he or she takes flight upon
the appearance of a police officer or attempts to conceal himself
or herself or any object or if other circumstances make it impractical
or unsafe for the police officer to give this opportunity.
B.
If the actor's explanation of his or her presence or conduct
to the police officer is untrue or does not dispel the concern, the
officer may arrest the person or persons.
Whenever the presence of any person in any public place is causing or is likely to cause any of the conditions enumerated in § 249-3, the police may order that person to leave that place. Any person who shall refuse to leave after being ordered to do so by a police officer shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.
When a police officer orders a person to leave an area, he or
she shall not return to that area for at least two hours. If the person
is found in the same area within a two-hour period of having been
ordered to leave, then the person shall be guilty of a violation of
this chapter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter
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 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 Chester County.
