[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Orange
Township 8-18-1980 by Ord. No.
29-80; amended in its entirety 1-5-1993 by Ord. No. 39-92; amended
in its entirety 8-6-1997 by Ord.
No. 24-97. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Ordinance
Regulating the Presence and Conduct of Minors on Streets and Public
Places During Curfew".
A.Â
The Municipal Council of the City of Orange Township has determined
that there has been an increase in juvenile violence, juvenile gang
activity and crime by persons under the age of eighteen (18) years
in the City of Orange Township and that much of said activity takes
place during night and evening hours and on school days during the
hours in which school is in session.
B.Â
The Council has determined that persons under the age of eighteen
(18) years are particularly susceptible, because of their lack of
maturity and experience, to participate in unlawful and gang-related
activities and to be the victims of older perpetrators of crime.
C.Â
The Council has determined that a curfew for those under the age
of eighteen (18) years will be in the interest of public health, safety
and general welfare and will help to attain these objectives and to
diminish the undesirable impact of this conduct on the citizens of
the City of Orange Township.
D.Â
The Council has determined that passage of a curfew will protect
the welfare of minors by:
(1)Â
Reducing the likelihood that minors will be the victims of criminal
acts during the curfew hours and during the hours that school is in
session;
(2)Â
Reducing the likelihood that minors will become involved in criminal
acts or exposed to narcotics trafficking during the curfew hours and
during the hours that school is in session; and
(3)Â
Aiding parents or guardians in carrying out their responsibility
to exercise reasonable supervision of minors entrusted to their care.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivation shall have the meaning given therein:
The hours from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m., Sunday through
Thursday, and 12:00 midnight until 6:00 a.m., Friday and Saturday.
An unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting
state that calls for immediate action. The term "emergency" includes
but is not limited to a fire, a natural disaster, an automobile accident
or any situation that requires immediate action to prevent serious
bodily injury or loss of life.
Any privately owned place of business operated for a profit
to which the public is invited, including, but not limited to, any
place of amusement or entertainment, store, tavern, saloon or restaurant
or any other commercial or business establishment or place.
A person, other than a parent, to whom legal custody of the
minor has been given by court order or who is acting in the place
of the parent or is responsible for the care, custody, control and
welfare of the minor.
(a) with respect to a parent or guardian, knowledge which
a parent or guardian is reasonably expected to have concerning the
whereabouts of a minor in his or her legal custody and (b) with respect
to an owner, operator or employee of an establishment, knowledge that
a reasonable person is expected to have concerning the status of a
person as minor, including prior contacts with such person.
Any person who has not attained the age of eighteen (18)
years as of his/her last birthday prior to the date of the violation
of this chapter, but does not include a judicially emancipated minor
or a married minor.
Any individual, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
limited liability company or other entity that operates, manages or
conducts any establishment. The term "operator" includes the members
or partners of an association, partnership or limited liability company
and the officers of a corporation.
A natural parent, adoptive parent, stepparent or any person
over the age of twenty-one (21) years of age who has legal custody
by court order or marriage of any minor and who is authorized by the
natural parent, adoptive parent, stepparent or custodial parent of
a child to be a caretaker for the child.
Any place to which the public or a substantial group of the
public has access, including, but not limited to, a public street,
road, thoroughfare, sidewalk, bridge, alley, plaza, park, recreation
or shopping area, public transportation facility, vehicle used for
public transportation, parking lot or any other public building, structure
or area.
To linger or stay or fail to leave the premises when requested
to do so by a police officer or the owner, operator or other person
in control of the establishment.
Bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or
that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss
or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.
It shall be unlawful for any minor to remain in or upon any
public place or on the premises of any establishment within the City
of Orange Township during the curfew hours.
It shall be unlawful for any minor to remain in or upon any
public place on any school day during the hours in which such minor's
school is in session, unless such minor has been officially excused
from attendance at such school by school authorities.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for any parent or guardian of a minor to knowingly
or negligently permit or by insufficient control allow the minor to
be in any public place or on the premises of an establishment within
the City of Orange Township during the curfew hours.
B.Â
It shall be unlawful for any parent or guardian to allow or permit
any minor to be in or upon any public place at any time during the
hours in which said minor's school is in session, unless such
minor has been officially excused from attendance at such school by
school authorities.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for any owner, operator or any employee of an
establishment to knowingly permit a minor to remain upon the premises
of an establishment during curfew hours.
B.Â
It shall be unlawful for any owner, operator or employee of an establishment
to knowingly allow or permit any minor to remain in or upon such establishment
at any time during the hours in which such minor's school is
in session, unless such child has been officially excused from attendance
at such school by the school authorities.
A.Â
It is a defense to prosecution under this chapter if any of the following
apply:
(1)Â
The minor is accompanied by a minor's parent or guardian;
(2)Â
The minor is accompanied by an adult over twenty-one (21) years of
age authorized by a parent to accompany the minor for a designated
period of time and specific purpose within a specific area;
(3)Â
The minor is exercising First Amendment rights protected by the Constitution,
such as free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and the right
of assembly;
(4)Â
There exists a case of an emergency or reasonable necessity, but
only after the minor's parent or guardian has confirmed the facts
establishing the emergency or reasonable necessity, including the
points of origin and destination, the specific streets at a designated
time for a designated purpose;
(5)Â
The minor is on the sidewalk that abuts the minor's residence
or the sidewalk that abuts the residence of the next-door neighbor
if the neighbor did not object to the minor's presence on the
sidewalk;
(6)Â
The minor is in attendance at, or returning home by a direct route
from and within thirty (30) minutes of the termination of, an official
school activity or any activity of a religious, civic or voluntary
association, which entity takes responsibility for the minor;
(7)Â
The minor is in a motor vehicle with the consent of his or her parent
or guardian engaged in normal travel, either intra- or interstate,
through the City of Orange Township;
(8)Â
The minor is traveling, without detour or stop, to or from a business
or occupation which the laws of the State of New Jersey authorize
a minor to perform; or
(9)Â
The minor carries on his or her person a special permit from the
Police Director which has been issued upon written application signed
by the minor and by a parent or guardian of the minor, which application
includes (i) the name, address and telephone number of the minor,
the name, address and telephone number of the minor's parent
or guardian, the height, weight, sex, color of eyes and hair and other
physical characteristics of the minor; and (ii) the necessity which
requires the minor to be present on the public streets and the beginning
and ending of the period of time involved by date and hour. The Police
Director may grant a permit in writing for the use by the minor of
such streets and upon such hours as, in the opinion of the Police
Director, may be reasonably necessary. In the case of an emergency,
this may be accomplished by telephone or other effective communication,
with a corresponding record being made contemporaneously by the Police
Director or by his designee.
A.Â
Before taking any enforcement action under this section, a police officer shall ask the apparent offender's age and reason for being in the public place. The officer shall first warn the minor that he or she is in violation of curfew and shall, during curfew hours, direct the minor to proceed at once to his or her home or usual place of abode or, during school hours, to his or her school. The officer shall not issue a citation or make an arrest under this section unless the officer reasonably believes that an offense has occurred and that, based on any response and other circumstances, no defense in Section 77-5 is proffered or is present.
B.Â
It shall be the responsibility of any person within the City of Orange Township to establish that he or she is not subject to the provisions of Section 77-4 of this chapter by virtue of having attained the age of eighteen (18) years or older.
C.Â
It shall be a violation of this chapter for any minor to utter a
misrepresentation of his or her age to a police officer of the City
of Orange Township.
D.Â
If a police officer determined that a minor is committing a curfew
offense, the police officer shall take the minor to the Juvenile Aid
Bureau of the Orange Police Department, who in turn shall notify the
parents of such minor.
E.Â
A minor who violates this chapter shall be detained by the Juvenile
Aid Bureau of the Orange Police Department at the police headquarters
and released into the custody of the minor's parent, guardian
or an adult person acting in loco parentis. The minor's parents,
guardian or an adult person acting in loco parentis with respect to
the minor shall be called to the police headquarters to take custody
of the minor. The Police Department may request that the parent, guardian
or adult person acting in loco parentis submit an appropriate form
of identification and sign appropriate authorization. A minor who
is released to a person acting in loco parentis with respect to the
minor shall not be taken into custody for violation of this section
while returning home with the person acting in loco parentis. If no
one claims responsibility for the minor, the minor may be taken to
the minor's residence or placed in the custody of the appropriate
official of the Division of Youth and Family Services or Juveniles
in Need of Supervision Shelter.
F.Â
If a minor violates this section on more than three (3) occasions,
he or she may be charged as a delinquent under the Code of Juvenile
Justice, N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-20 et seq. In appropriate cases, however,
the Police Department may refer the matter to the appropriate juvenile
authorities as a "juvenile family crisis" pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-22.
For each offense, violators of this section shall be required
to perform community service of up to fifty (50) hours and may be
fined up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.). If both the minor and
the parent or guardian violate this section, they shall be required
to perform community service together.
Any or all ordinances inconsistent with this chapter are hereby
repealed to the extent of any such inconsistency.
Severability is intended throughout and within the provisions of this chapter. If any provision, including any exemption, 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. Additional exemptions to be included under Section 77-5 will be considered by the Council as warranted by future expenditure illuminated by the views of student government associations, school personnel, citizens, associations, parents, officers and persons in authority concerned positively with minors as well as with juvenile delinquency. The Police Department shall be responsible to make periodic reviews of the practical aspects of enforcement and interpretation of this section, including the need for clarification or relaxation of any term or provision contained herein as well as the need for continued or discontinued curfew regulations. Whenever, in the opinion of the City Attorney or of any court, the application of this section to a particular act or activity of a minor is unclear or ambiguous, the less restrictive interpretation shall be deemed to be intent of this section.
