This article is enacted pursuant to N.J.S.A.
40:48-2.52 and may be cited as the "Curfew Ordinance of the City of
Millville." The governing body finds and declares that children are
being left unsupervised during the overnight hours within the community.
This has resulted in the potential for involvement in criminal activity
as well as the potential threat to the mental and physical health
and welfare of the children who are being left unsupervised by parents
or guardians. It is the intent and purpose of this article to regulate
by curfew the activities of juveniles during these hours and to encourage
the effective supervision of children by their parents and guardians.
[Amended 12-4-2001 by Ord. No. 39-2001]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
that a different meaning is intended:
Sporting events such as baseball, basketball, boxing, football,
hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and wrestling.
The City of Millville.
A business or nonprofit organization located within the City
which regularly engages in the type of activity or event being sponsored.
Examples include the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, the local ballet school,
the local marshal arts school and the local Historical Society.
Activities or events to include the fine arts such as composing,
painting, sculpting and writing or the performing arts such as acting,
dance and music sponsored by religious or community based organizations.
Activities or events that involve the process of instruction
or training to advance aesthetic, mental, moral or physical development
sponsored by religious or community based organizations.
Any 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 who is responsible for the care and welfare
of the juvenile. Examples include babysitters and adult relatives
of the juvenile such as brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, and
grandparents.
Any person who is under the age of 18 years and who is not
fully emanicipated.
A medical condition of a sudden unexpected happening or an
unforeseen condition or occurrence which requires a sudden or unexpected
occasion for action.
Any person who is the natural or adoptive parent or the stepparent
of the juvenile.
Any place to which the public has access, including but not
limited to any alley, bridge, park, parking lot, plaza, public lands,
recreational area, road, sidewalk, or street.
Religious services sponsored by a religious organization
who believes in a particular system of faith and worship recognized
and practiced by a particular church, denomination, or sect.
Extracurricular school activities such as concerts, pep rallies,
plays, and recitals.
Activities or events such as bowling, dancing, dinner, movies,
and skating.
Whenever certain hours are named in these regulations, they
shall mean either Eastern standard time or Eastern daylight saving
time as may be in current use within the City.
[Amended 12-4-2001 by Ord. No. 39-2001; 6-7-2011 by Ord. No. 9-2011]
It shall be unlawful for any juvenile to be
in any public place between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. on
Sunday through Saturday of each week.
In the following circumstances, juveniles shall
be permitted in public Places during the prohibited hours specified
in these regulations:
A.
When accompanied by a parent or guardian of the juvenile.
B.
When traveling to or from their place of employment.
C.
When engaged in interstate travel, either beginning,
ending, or traveling through the City.
D.
When engaged in errands involving medical emergencies.
E.
When attending, traveling or walking to or from an
athletic, cultural, educational, school, or social event authorized
in advance by the parent or guardian.
F.
When attending, traveling or walking to or from a
religious event authorized in advance by the parent or guardian.
It shall be unlawful for a parent or guardian
of a juvenile knowingly to permit or by inefficient control to allow
such juvenile to be or remain in any public place under circumstances
not constituting an exception to these regulations during the prohibited
hours. The term "knowingly" includes knowledge which a parent should
reasonably be expected to have concerning the whereabouts of a juvenile
in that parent's or guardian's control. This section is intended to
set a reasonable community standard of parental responsibility through
an objective test. It shall be no defense that a parent or guardian
is completely indifferent to the activities, conduct, or whereabouts
of the juvenile.
If a police officer reasonably believes that
a juvenile is on the streets in violation of these regulations, the
officer shall notify the juvenile that he or she is in violation of
the article and shall require the juvenile to provide his or her name,
address and telephone number and how to contact his or her parent
or legal guardian. In determining the age of the juvenile and in the
absence of convincing evidence such as a birth certificate or driver's
license, a police officer on the street shall use his or her best
judgment in determining age. If the officer determines a person is
in violation of this article he or she shall take the juvenile to
the police station where a parent or legal guardian shall be notified
to come for the juvenile whereupon they shall be questioned. This
is intended to permit ascertainment, under constitutional safeguards,
of relevant facts and to centralize responsibility in the person designated
there and then on duty for accurate, effective, fair, impartial and
uniform enforcement and recording, thus making available experienced
personnel and access to information and records.
A.
Police procedures shall constantly be refined in the
light of experience and may provide that the police officer may deliver
to a parent or legal guardian thereof a juvenile of tender age near
home whose identity and address may readily be ascertained or are
known.
B.
A police officer discharging an enforcement obligation
under these regulations shall file a written report with the Chief
of Police or shall participate to the extent of the information for
which he is responsible in the preparation of a report on the curfew
violation. It is not the intention of this article to require extensive
reports but should have a reasonable amount of information for gathering
of additional information.
C.
When a parent or legal guardian, immediately called,
has come to take charge of the juvenile, and the appropriate information
has been recorded, the juvenile shall be released to the custody of
such parent or legal guardian. If the parent or legal guardian cannot
be located or fails to take charge of the juvenile then the juvenile
shall be released to the juvenile authorities, except to the extent
that in accordance with police regulations, approved in advance by
juvenile authorities, the juvenile may be entrusted to an adult relative,
neighbor or other person who will, on behalf of a parent or legal
guardian assume the responsibility of caring for the juvenile pending
the availability or arrival of a parent or legal guardian.
D.
In the case of the first violation of a juvenile,
the Chief of Police, shall, by certified mail, send to the parents
or legal guardians of the minor written notice of the violation with
a warning that any subsequent violation will result in full enforcement
of these regulations including enforcement of parental responsibility
and of applicable penalties.
Pursuant to state law, the Millville Municipal
Court is hereby authorized to hear all violations of these regulations
including violations of juvenile offenders.
A.
Parent or guardian. Any person who shall violate any
of these regulations shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to
a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or community service not to exceed
90 days. The minimum fine for a first offense shall be $25. The minimum
fine for a second offense shall be $50. The minimum fine for a third
offense shall be $75 and 10 days of community service.
B.
Juvenile. Any juvenile who shall violate any of these
regulations shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not
to exceed $1,000 and/or community service not to exceed 90 days. The
minimum fine for a first offense shall be $25. The minimum fine for
a second offense shall be $50. The minimum fine for a third offense
shall be $75 and 10 days of community service.
C.
Community service. If both a juvenile and the juvenile's
parent or guardian violate these regulations, and the Court imposes
community service as part of the sentence, they shall be required
to perform community service together.
Notice of the existence of these curfew regulations
shall be posted in, on or about such public or quasi-public places
as may be determined by the Chief of Police in order that the public
may be constantly informed of the existence of these regulations.
