[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of Colebrookdale Township 9-7-2010 by Ord. No. 1-2010. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to:
A. 
Promote the general welfare and protect the general public through the reduction of juvenile violence and crime within the Township.
B. 
Promote the safety and well being of the Township's young citizens, persons under the age of 18, whose inexperience renders them particularly vulnerable to becoming participants in unlawful activities; particularly unlawful drug activities, and to being victimized by older perpetrators of crime; and
C. 
Foster and strengthen parental responsibility for children.
The following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them below:
CURFEW HOURS
The hours of 11:00 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. the following day.
EMERGENCY
Unforeseen circumstances, or the status or condition resulting therefrom, requiring immediate action to safeguard life, limb, or property. The term includes, but is not limited to fires, natural disasters, automobile accidents, or other similar circumstances.
ESTABLISHMENT
Any privately-owned place of business within the Township operated for a profit, to which the public is invited, including, but not limited to any place of amusement or entertainment. With respect to such establishment, the term "operator" shall mean any person, and any firm, association, partnership (and the member or partners thereof) and/or any corporation (and the officers thereof) conducting or managing the establishment.
MINOR
Any person under 18 years of age who has not been emancipated by court order.
OFFICER
A police or other law enforcement officer charged with duty of enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and/or the ordinances of the Township of Colebrookdale.
PARENT
A. 
A person who is a minor's biological or adoptive parent and who has legal custody of a minor (including either parent, if custody is shared under a court order or agreement);
B. 
A person who is the biological or adoptive parent with whom a minor regularly resides;
C. 
A person judicially appointed as a legal guardian of the minor; and/or
D. 
A person 18 years of age or older standing in loco parentis (as indicated by the authorization of an individual listed in Subsections A, B or C of this definition, above, for the person to assume the care or physical custody of the child, or as indicated by any other circumstances.)
PERSON
An individual, not to any association, corporation, or any other legal entity.
PUBLIC PLACE
Any place to which the public or substantial group of the public has access, including, but not limited to: street, highways, roads, sidewalks, alleys, avenues, parks, and/or the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transportation facilities, and shops.
REMAIN
The following actions:
A. 
To linger or stay at or upon a place; and/or
B. 
To fail to leave a place when requested to do so by an officer or by the owner, operator, or other person in control of that place.
TEMPORARY CARE FACILITY
A nonlocked, nonrestrictive shelter at which minors may wait, under visual supervision, to be retrieved by a parent. No minors waiting in such facility shall be handcuffed and/or secured (by handcuffs or otherwise) to any stationary object.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for a minor, during curfew hours, to remain in or upon any public place within the Township, to remain in any motor vehicle operating or parked therein or thereon, or to remain in or upon the premises of any establishment with in the Township, unless:
(1) 
The minor us accompanied by a parent(s); or
(2) 
The minor is involved in an emergency; or
(3) 
The minor is engaged in an employment activity or is going to or returning home from such activity, without detour or stop; or
(4) 
The minor is on the sidewalk directly abutting a place where he or she resides with a parent; or
(5) 
The minor is attending an activity sponsored by a school, religious, or civic organization, by a public organization or agency, or by another similar organization or entity, which activity is supervised by adults, and/or the minor is going to or returning from such an activity without detour or stop; or
(6) 
The minor is on an errand at the direction of a parent, and the minor has in his or her possession a writing signed by the parent containing the following information: the name, signature, address, and telephone number of the parent authorizing the errand, the telephone number where the parent may be reached during the errand, the minor's destination(s) and the hours the minor is authorized to be engaged in the errand; or
(7) 
The minor is involved in interstate travel through, or beginning or terminating in, the Township of Colebrookdale; or
(8) 
The minor is 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.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for a minor's parent to knowingly permit, allow, or encourage such minor to violate Subsection A of this chapter.
C. 
It shall be unlawful for a person who is the owner or operator of any motor vehicle to knowingly permit, allow, or encourage a violation of Subsection A of this chapter.
D. 
It shall be unlawful for the operator of any establishment, or for any person who is an employee thereof, to knowingly permit, allow, or encourage a minor to remain upon the premises of the establishment during curfew hours. It shall be a defense to prosecution under this subsection that the operator or employee of an establishment promptly notified the Police Department that a minor was present at the establishment after curfew hours and refused to leave.
E. 
It shall be unlawful for any person (including any minor) to give a false name, address, or telephone number to any officer investigating a possible violation of this chapter.
A. 
Minors.
(1) 
Before taking any enforcement action hereunder, an officer shall make an immediate investigation for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the presence of a minor in a public place, motor vehicle and/or Establishment within the Township during curfew hours is in violation of § 211-3A of this chapter. If such investigation reveals that the presence of such minor is in violation of § 211-3A of this chapter:
(a) 
If the minor has not previously been issued a warning or any such violation, then the officer shall issue a verbal warning to the minor, which shall be followed by a written warning mailed by the Police Department to the minor and his or her parent(s); or
(b) 
If the minor has previously been issued a warning for any such violation, then the officer shall charge the minor with a violation of this chapter and shall issue a citation.
(2) 
As soon as practicable, the officer shall.
(a) 
Release the minor to his or her parent(s); or
(b) 
Place the minor in a temporary care facility for a period not to exceed the remainder of the curfew hours, so that this or her parent(s) may retrieve the minor; or
(c) 
If a minor refuses to given an officer his or her name and address, refuses to give the name and address of his parent(s), or if no parent(s) can be located prior to the end of the applicable curfew hours, or if located, no parent(s) appears to accept custody of the minor, the minor will be release to Berks County Juvenile Probation or Berks County Children and Youth Services to be dealt with in the manner and pursuant to such procedures as required by law.
B. 
Others. If an investigation by an officer reveals that a person has violated § 211-3B, C and/or D of this chapter, and if the person has not been previously issued a warning with respect to any such violation, an officer shall issue a verbal warning to the person, which shall be followed by a written warning mailed by the police department to the person; however, if any such warning has previously been issued to that person, then the officer shall charge the person with a violation and shall issue a citation.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person found to be in violation of the terms of this chapter shall be guilty of a summary offense, and upon conviction shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Township 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 to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days.
If any sentence, clause, section, or part of this chapter is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid, the remaining provisions of this chapter are intended to and shall remain in full force and effect.
The Colebrookdale Township Ordinance Number 9-99 is hereby repealed. All other Township ordinances or parts of Township ordinances in conflict with this chapter are hereby repealed.