[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Greenwich 12-15-2025 by Ord. No. 22-2025. Amendments noted where applicable.]
EMERGENCY
Refers to unforeseen combination of 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 that require immediate action to prevent serious bodily injury or loss of life.
ESTABLISHMENT
Refers to any privately-owned place of business within the Township of Greenwich 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 members or partners thereof) and/or any corporation (and the officers thereof) conducting or managing that establishment.
GUARDIAN
Means a person, other than a parent, to whom legal custody of the juvenile has been given by court order or who is acting in the place of the parent or is responsible for the care and welfare of the juvenile.
JUVENILE
Means an individual who is under the age of 18 years.
PARENT
Means biological parent(s), adoptive parent(s), or stepparent(s) of the juvenile (including either parent, if custody is shared under a court order or agreement).
PUBLIC PLACE
Means any place to which 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.
SERIOUS BODILY INJURY
Refers to 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.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any juvenile under the age of 18 years to loiter, idle, wander, stroll, play or remain in or upon any public street, highway, road, park playground, public building, place of amusement, or places of business conducted for profit to which the public is invited and all public or quasi-public places, either on foot or in any vehicle, within the Township of Greenwich between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. unless accompanied by the juvenile's parent, guardian or other adult person having custody, care or control of said juvenile.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for juveniles during the curfew hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. to remain in or upon any public place within the Township of Greenwich to remain in any motor vehicle operating or parked therein or thereon, and/or to remain in or upon the premises of any establishment within the Township of Greenwich.
C. 
It shall be unlawful for a person who is the owner or driver of any motor vehicle to knowingly permit, allow or encourage a violation of this chapter.
D. 
It shall be unlawful for any person, including any juvenile, to give a false name, address, or telephone number to any officer investigating a possible violation of this section.
It shall be unlawful for juveniles during the curfew hours to remain in or upon any public place within the Township of Greenwich, to remain in any motor vehicle operating or parked therein or thereon, and/or to remain in or upon the premises of any establishment within the City, unless/except:
A. 
The juvenile is accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or caretaker; or
B. 
The juvenile may remain out past curfew on a sidewalk and/or another property such as but not limited to a next-door neighbor directly abutting or adjacent a place where the juvenile resides with a parent, legal guardian, or caretaker until the property owner or a member of the general public complains of the juvenile's presence during curfew hours to the local law enforcement department; or
C. 
The juvenile may attend a school or place of instruction; or
D. 
The juvenile is carrying written permission from the juvenile's educational authority allowing the juvenile to be in a public place; or
E. 
The juvenile may engage in an employment activity including travel to and returning from such employment activity to their place of stay, without detour or stop; or
F. 
The juvenile may attend any recreational, cultural or educational activities supervised by adults and sponsored by, held, or located at schools, religious organizations, any recreational activity sponsored by the Township of Greenwich, or attend any other organizational function in the Township of Greenwich so long as the organizational function assumes responsibility for the juvenile's care, safety, and well-being through providing adult supervision of the juvenile. The juvenile may travel unsupervised to and from these specified activities without detour during curfew hours; or
G. 
The juvenile is on an errand at the direction of the juvenile's parent, legal guardian, or adult temporarily responsible for the parental care, authority, and safety of said juvenile, without any detour or stop; or
H. 
The juvenile is involved in interstate travel in any means of transportation through, either beginning, throughout, or terminating, in the Township of Greenwich; or
I. 
The juvenile is involved in an emergency; or
J. 
The juvenile is exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United States Constitution, such as but not limited to the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, and the right of assembly in which the juvenile or the juvenile's parent, legal guardian, or caretaker must notify the Township of Greenwich Police Department at least 24 hours in advance in order for the Township of Greenwich to comply with all New Jersey State regulations such as but not limited to directives, executive orders, and enacted legislative acts.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any parent or guardian to allow an unaccompanied juvenile to be on any highway, road, park playground, public building, place of amusement, or places of business conducted for profit to which the public is invited and all public or quasi-public places, either on foot or in any vehicle between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
B. 
A parent, legal guardian, or caretaker of a juvenile commits an offense if they knowingly permit, allow, and/or encourage, or by insufficient control of the juvenile allow, the juvenile to remain in or upon any public place within the Township of Greenwich, to remain in any motor vehicle operating or parked therein or thereon, and/or to remain in or upon the premises of any establishment within the Township of Greenwich during curfew hours.
If any juvenile under the age of 18 should be apprehended for violating the provisions of this chapter, the assigned police officers of the Township of Greenwich shall notify the parents, guardian or other person having care, custody or control of such minor of such arrest.
If it should be established that any juvenile under the age of 18 remained idle, loitered, wandered strolled, played or remained in or upon any the public or quasi-public places within the Township as above mentioned, in violation of the provisions of this chapter, it shall be presumed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that the parent, guardian or other adult person having the care, control or custody of such juvenile knowingly permitted such juvenile to do so.
A law enforcement officer shall be empowered to issue a summons to such juvenile's parent, legal guardian, or caretaker where the juvenile's parent, legal guardian, or caretaker shall appear in front of the Municipal Court of the Township of Greenwich.
Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be punished for a first offense, subject to a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 and up to 90 days of community service. For a second of subsequent offense occurring within one year of the first offense, a person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $1,000 and up to 90 days of community service. If both a juvenile and the juvenile's parent or guardian are found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this chapter, they may be required to perform community service together.
Notice of the existence of this chapter and of the curfew regulations established by it shall be posted in or at such public place as may be determined by the Chief of Police, in order that the public may be constantly informed of the existence of this chapter and its regulations.