[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of West Vincent 4-9-2001 by Part One of Ord. No. 107. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "West Vincent
Township Curfew Ordinance."
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases,
words and forms thereof shall have the meanings or interpretations
given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in
the present tense include the future, words used in the plural include
the singular, words used in the male gender include the female, and
words used in the female gender include the male. The word "shall"
is to be construed to indicate mandatory action or inaction.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township.
Any individual under the age of 18 years.
Any person having legal custody, whether permanent or temporary,
of a minor as: (1) a natural or adoptive parent; or (2) a legal guardian
of the person of the minor; or (3) a person standing in loco parentis;
or (4) a person to whom legal custody has been given by order of the
court.
Any street, highway, alley, park, sidewalk, shopping center,
or other places in the Township open to use by the public.
The prevailing standard of time, whether Eastern standard
time or Eastern daylight saving time, generally observed at that hour
by the public in the Township.
The Township of West Vincent Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
This chapter prescribes, in accordance with prevailing community
standards, regulations for the conduct of minors on streets at night,
for the protection of younger children in West Vincent Township from
each other and from other persons on the streets during nighttime
hours, for the enforcement of parental control and responsibility
for their children, for the protection of the public from nocturnal
mischief by minors and for the reduction of the incident of juvenile
criminal activity, all for the good of minors, for the furtherance
of family responsibility, and for the public good, safety and welfare.
Except as otherwise provided by § 155-5 of this chapter, it shall be unlawful:
A.
In the following cases, it shall not be a violation of the provisions of § 155-4 of this chapter for a minor to be, or to remain, or to be permitted to be or to remain, in or upon a public place at anytime between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.:
(1)
When his parent accompanies the minor.
(2)
When the minor is engaged in employment or is in transit to or from
his place of employment.
(3)
When the minor is returning home, by a direct route, from and within
30 minutes of the termination of a school activity or an activity
of religious or other voluntary association, which he or she attended
or in which he or she participated.
(4)
When the minor is seeking or providing aid in an emergency situation
concerning imminent danger to life or property, or both.
B.
The burden of proving the applicability of one or more of the exceptions
set forth above shall be upon the minor, parent or other person asserting
the applicability of such exception.
Each and every police officer of the Township is hereby authorized and directed to arrest without warrant any minor violating § 155-4 of this chapter and is further directed to place the minor into protective custody. The parent of said minor shall be notified of the apprehension and the whereabouts of the minor, and said minor shall be released to his parent upon the promise of the parent to secure or compel the obedience of the minor to the provision of § 155-4A of this chapter, unless detention of the minor is otherwise warranted or required under law governing the detention of juveniles. In the event that the parent does not promise to secure or compel the obedience of the minor to the provisions of § 155-4A, the minor shall be detained in accordance with the law governing the detention of juveniles.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or to imprisonment to the extent
allowed by law for the punishment of summary offenses. Enforcement
shall be by action brought before a Magisterial District Judge in
the same manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under
the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Each Magisterial District Judge for the Township shall, upon the arrest of a minor for violating the provisions of § 155-4A of this chapter, or upon the consideration and determination of said violation, inquire into the facts of the arrest and/or violation, together with the condition and circumstance under which the arrest and/or violation occurred, and where it shall appear that the minor is habitually disobedient or beyond the control of his parents or other lawful authority, or that the minor deports himself so as to injure or endanger the health, safety, morals or general welfare of himself or of others, the Magisterial District Judge shall certify the case to the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County for proceedings in accordance with the juvenile law in such cases. In so certifying the case, the Magisterial District Judge shall charge the minor with having violated the provisions of § 155-4A of this chapter and shall indicate whether any fine and costs levied upon the minor for such violation have been paid.
