Township of Maple Shade, NJ: Disorderly conduct.

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Maple Shade 10-1-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-20. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 142-1 Definitions.

[Amended 6-26-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-05]

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

PERSON

Includes corporation, partnership, association and individual, and shall include the plural. The masculine pronoun shall include the feminine.

TOWNSHIP SPONSORED EVENT

Shall include any community event funded partially or fully by the Township of Maple Shade and/or a community event approved by the Township of Maple Shade taking place on Township-owned property.

§ 142-2 Public consumption of alcoholic beverages; containers; rebuttable presumption; public celebrations.

[Amended 10-15-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-18]

Any person who consumes alcoholic beverages while in or on a public street, lane, sidewalk, public parking lot, public or quasi-public place or in any public conveyance or in a private motor vehicle while such vehicle is in motion or parked in any public street, lane or public parking lot or while upon any private property not his or her own without the express permission of the owner or other person having authority to grant such permission shall be a disorderly person.

Any person who discards alcoholic beverage containers upon any public street, lane, sidewalk, public parking lot public or quasi-public place or upon any private property not his or her own without the express permission of the owner or other person having authority to grant such permission shall be a disorderly person.

There shall be a rebuttable presumption of consumption against each person charged with the offense of consumption of an alcoholic beverage as set forth in Subsection A above if that person is knowingly in possession of an open container which contains or recently contained an alcoholic beverage.

The Township Council in connection with public celebrations or similar special events may, by written permit, specifically authorize the consumption of alcoholic beverages in a public park, square, parking lot or other public place or area or portion thereof, as specified in such permit and in the date and the hours therein specified, subject to the conditions set forth in the approved permit.

§ 142-3 Disorderly conduct.

No person within the limits of the Township of Maple Shade shall:

(1)

Keep or harbor any dog which shall disturb the neighborhood by excessive barking, whining or howling.[1]

[1]

Editor's Note: See also Ch. 63, Animals.

(2)

Throw or discard any tin cans, bottles, garbage, debris, junk or refuse of any kind whatsoever into the waters of any spring, pond, stream, lake, river or any other body of water, or upon any public street or public place, or discharge any sewage or waste into said waters or places or any of them or pollute the said waters in any manner; or so place any of said articles that the acts prohibited above shall result therefrom.

(3)

Place or cause to be placed any obstruction of any kind whatsoever in any stream, pond, spring or lake so as to interfere with the natural flow or change the course thereof in any manner whatsoever without first obtaining the necessary permit to do so.

(4)

Throw any paper or posters, stones, sticks, glass, metal or any hard, dangerous or offensive substance upon any sidewalk, street, highway or public or private place or at any car, vehicle, house, building, fence or person.

(5)

Appear on any street, road, avenue, park or other public place, including balconies, in a state of nudity, or make any indecent exposure of his or her person, or commit or do any lewd or indecent act or behave in a lewd or indecent manner.

(6)

Disrobe in any automobile, truck or vehicle while the same is upon any parking place, street, road, avenue, park or other public place.

(7)

Sell or offer to sell any indecent picture, book or thing, or exhibit or perform any indecent, immoral or lewd play or other representation.

(8)

Keep or maintain a disorderly house or a house of ill fame, or allow or permit any house, shop, store or other building or structure owned by him or her to be used as a disorderly house or house of ill fame.

(9)

Solicit, invite or in any manner suggest by word of mouth or any writing or other communication or by any device whatsoever any lewd, lascivious or other immoral act.

(10)

Permit any house, shop, store or other building or structure owned by him or her to be frequented or resorted to by noisy, riotous or disorderly persons or by prostitutes, gamblers or vagrants.

(11)

Maliciously or intentionally destroy, damage or injure any property, public or private.

(12)

Cause or permit to be emitted any vile, offensive, obnoxious or nauseating odor that may be vile, offensive, obnoxious or nauseating to any person.

(13)

Keep, possess or maintain any faro table, roulette wheel, equipment or supplies for lottery and numbers game or other games of chance, or any pinball or video machine designed for gambling, or other gambling devices whatever.[2]

[2]

Editor's Note: See also Ch. 60, Amusement Devices.

(14)

Have in his or her possession or custody, any automobile in his or her possession or custody, any ticket or tickets, slip or slips, paper or papers, document or documents or memoranda in any way pertaining to the business of a numbers game. The term "numbers game" as used in this subsection shall mean any betting on any number or sets or arrangements of numbers on or according to any plan or method whatsoever.

(15)

Carry, without lawful authority, any revolver, pistol or other instrument of the kind known as a blackjack, slingshot, blowgun or similar device, billy club, sandbag, bludgeon, metal knuckles, dagger, dirk, dangerous knife, stiletto, bomb or other high explosive concealed in or about his or her clothes or person or in any portable vehicle, carriage, motorcycle or other vehicle.[3]

[3]

Editor's Note: See also Ch. 91, Firearms, Bows and Arrows.

(16)

Have upon his or her person or in his or her possession any picklock, key, crow, jack, bit or other implement with any intent to break and enter any building.

(17)

Participate in any sport or exercise having a tendency to annoy, disturb or frighten any person or persons on any sidewalk, street, road, park or other public or private place, or having a tendency to annoy or frighten horses or other animals.

(18)

Enter any building or public or private lands and without lawful authority break, injure or deface such building or any part thereof or the fences, outhouses or other property belonging to or connected with such building or lands, or disturb the exercises of any public school, church or other place of public assemblage, or molest or give annoyance to children or persons attending such school or annoy any teachers therein or persons conducting such exercises.

(19)

Hinder or obstruct any city officer or employee or the officer or employee of any agency, department, board, commission, authority or other instrumentality of this municipality in the performance of his or her duties or willfully refuse or neglect to assist such officer or employee when lawfully called upon by him or her so to do in the execution of any process or in the suppression of any breach of the peace or disorderly conduct or in the case of escape or when such officer or employee is resisted in the discharge of his or her duty or resist or oppose any officer or person authorized by law in serving or attempting to serve any writ, bill or order to process or when making any arrest.

(20)

Hinder, prevent or deter in any manner or by any device whatever any fire fighter or other person from rendering lawful assistance in abating or quelling a fire, or hinder or interfere with any fire fighter going to or returning from any fire or place from which a fire alarm proceeds, or hinder or obstruct any fire engine, hook and ladder truck, hose cart or other fire apparatus going to or from any place from which a fire alarm proceeds or where any building or property may be burning.

(21)

Hinder, obstruct, prevent or deter in any manner or by any device whatever any ambulance or emergency squad member or other person from rendering lawful assistance at any accident, disaster or other emergency, or any ambulance or emergency squad equipment while going to or from or attending at an accident, disaster or other emergency.

(22)

Willfully and maliciously ring or sound or cause to be rung or sounded any bell, siren or other alarm of any fire, ambulance or emergency company or squad, and thereby or by any other means give or cause to be given a false alarm of fire or emergency.[4]

[4]

Editor's Note: For false alarms of alarm systems, see Ch. 54.

(23)

Enter upon or trespass upon the land or property of any other persons without lawful permission to do so.

(24)

Leave or threaten to leave his or her minor child, children or other lawful dependent to be maintained by the township or to become chargeable thereto.

(25)

Being without sufficient property or means for his or her subsistence or support, live idly or not engage in some honest employment or fail to provide for himself or herself or for his or her family.

(26)

Pretend to use or have any skill in physiognomy, palmistry or like crafty science, or pretend to tell the destinies or fortunes for pay or other reward.

(27)

Remove, interfere with or disturb any lantern, warning signal, obstruction or barricade lawfully placed in or across any public street or alley by the public authority, its contractors, agents, servants or employees.

All other riotous, indecent or disorderly conduct, breach of the peace and vagrancy not hereinabove specifically mentioned is hereby prohibited.

§ 142-4 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 9-20-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11; 4-16-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-07]

Any person who shall violate any provisions of this chapter, upon conviction, shall be subject to the penalty as provided in Chapter 1, Article II, herein.

§ 142-5 Possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages by underage persons on private property; violations and penalties.

[Added 10-18-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-14]

No person under the legal drinking age, without legal authority, shall knowingly possess alcoholic beverages on private property.

No person under the legal drinking age, without legal authority, shall knowingly consume alcoholic beverages on private property.

Any person found guilty of underage possession and/or consumption shall be fined $250 for a first offense and $350 for any subsequent offense. In addition to the above fine, the court may suspend or postpone said person's driving privilege for a period of six months. If said person is under the age of 17 years, the period of license postponement, including a suspension or postponement of the privilege of operating a motorized bicycle, shall commence on the day the sentence is imposed and shall run for a period of six months after said person reaches the age of 17 years of age. If the person convicted under this section is not a resident of the State of New Jersey, the Court shall suspend or postpone, as appropriate, the nonresident driving privilege of the person based on the age of said person.

This section shall not apply to underage persons consuming or possessing an alcoholic beverage in connection with a religious observance, ceremony or rite or consuming or possessing an alcoholic beverage in the presence of and with the permission of a parent, guardian or relative who has attained the legal age to purchase or consume alcoholic beverages.

This section shall not prohibit the possession of alcoholic beverages by any underage person while actually engaged in the performance of employment by a person who is licensed under Title 33 of the Revised Statutes or while actively engaged in the preparation of food while enrolled in a culinary arts or hotel management program at a county vocational school or post secondary educational institution.

§ 142-6 Regulating the possession of certain items at Township-sponsored events.