[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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
The Council has determined that passage of a curfew will protect the welfare of minors by:
(1) 
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) 
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) 
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:
CURFEW HOURS
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.
EMERGENCY
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.
ESTABLISHMENT
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.
GUARDIAN
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.
KNOWINGLY
(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.
MINOR
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.
OPERATOR
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.
PARENT
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.
PUBLIC PLACE
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.
REMAIN
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.
SERIOUS BODILY INJURY
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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
It is a defense to prosecution under this chapter if any of the following apply:
(1) 
The minor is accompanied by a minor's parent or guardian;
(2) 
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) 
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) 
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) 
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) 
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) 
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) 
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) 
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.
B. 
It is a defense to prosecution under Section 77-4.4A and 77-4.4B that the owner, operator or employee of an establishment promptly notified the Orange Police Department that a minor was present on the premises of the establishment during curfew hours or school hours and refused to leave.
A. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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.
G. 
The provisions of this section shall not limit the power of the Police Department to charge parents, guardians or the owners, operators or employees of business establishments with violations of this section pursuant to Section 77-4.
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.