HomeMy Public PortalAbout98:22Councilman Presents the following Ordinance Seconded by Councilman
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING, REVISING AND SUPPLEMENTING
CHAPTER 168 OF THE CODE OF THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET
ENTITLED "PEACE AND GOOD ORDER", SECTION 168-2 LOITERING.
BE IT ORDAINED by the Borough Council of the Borough of Carteret, that the
Borough Code of the Borough of Carteret is hereby amended, revised and supplemented
to include the following:
SECTION 1: Definitions
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall be defined to mean:
ADULT: includes natural or adoptive Parents.
GUARDIAN: means a person, other than the Parent, to whom legal custody of
the juvenile has been given by the court or who is acting in the place of the
Parent or is responsible for the care and welfare of the juvenile.
JUVENILE/MiNOR' shall be interchangeable and shall mean any individual
who is sixteen (16) years of age or less.
KNOWINGLY: includes knowledge or information which a Parent should
reasonably be expected to have pertaining to the whereabouts of a juvenile in
that Parent's legal custody. It is intended to include and require neglectful or
careless Parent to maintain a reasonable community standard of parental
respectability through an objective test. It shall be no defense that a Parent was
completely indifferent to the activities or conduct or whereabouts for such
minor.
LOITERING: remaining idle in essentially one (1) location and shall include
the concepts of spending time idly, loafing or walking about aimlessly, and shall
also include the colloquial expression "hanging around",
PUBLIC PLACE: means any place to which the public has access, including
but not limited to the 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.
SECTION 2: Loitering
A. Certain types of loitering prohibited. No person shall loiter in a public
place in such manner as to:
(1) Create or cause to be created a danger of a breach of the peace.
(2) Create or cause to be created any disturbance or annoyance to
the comtbrt and repose of any person.
(3) Obstruct the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles.
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(4) Obstruct, molest or interfere with any person lawfully in any
Public Place as defined in Subsection I above. This Subsection
shall include the making of unsolicited remarks of an offensive,
distinguishing or insulting nature or which are calculated to annoy
or disturb the person to or whose hearing they are made.
B. Discretion of police officer. Whenever any police officer shall, in the
exercise of reasonable judgement, decide that the presence of any person
in any public place is causing or is likely to cause any of the conditions
enumerated in Subsection A he may, if he deems it necessary for the
preservation of the public peace and safety, order that person to leave
~,. ~ that place. Any person who shall refuse to leave after being ordered to
do so by a police officer shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.
SECTION 3: Responsibilities of the Parent or Guardian
A. A Parent or legal Guardian shall not permit, or by ineffective control
allow a minor to violate this loitering.
SECTION 4: Enforcement Procedures
A. Any juvenile found by a police officer to be in violation of Section 2A or
2B of this Ordinance shall be taken into police custody and released
thereafter to his or her Parent or Guardian. The Parent and Guardian,
as defined in Section 1, shall immediately be notified and required to
report to police headquarters to procure the juvenile.
B. In determining the age of the juvenile, and in the absence of convincing
evidence such as a birth certificate, a police officer shall use his or her
best judgement in determining age.
C. When a Parent or Guardian is immediately called and has come to take
charge of the juvenile, information shall be sought from the Parent or
Guardian or person having legal custody of the minor so as to permit
ascertainment, under constitutional safeguards, or 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 making.
D. If a Parent or Guardian cannot be located or fails to take charge of the
juvenile, then the juvenile shall be released to the Juvenile Authorities,
the juvenile may temporarily be entrusted to any adult, relative, neighbor
or other person who will on behalf of a Parent assume the responsibility
of caring for the juvenile pending availability of the Parent or Guardian.
E. In the case of a juvenile, a formal warning shall be issued to a first
offender and served upon the Parent or Guardian in person or by certified
mail, thereafter, summons shall be issued to a second offender and served
upon the Parent or Guardian in person or by certified mail.
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F. If the juvenile has been issued a warning, or limited of violating this
ordinance on a prior occasion within six (6) months of the date of the
alleged subsequent violation, there shall be ~ presumption that the Parent
or Guardian having care of the juvenile knew or should have the
juvenile's violation of his section.
SECTION 5: Penalties
A. After receipt of a warning notice pursuant to Section 4(E) of a first
violation by a juvenile, if the juvenile is found guilty of a second loitering
violations he shall be deemed to be in violation of this Ordinance and
subject the penalties set forth in Section 5(C), the Parents and Guardian
of the juvenile shall also be subject to prosecution under this Ordinance
under such circumstances.
B. All persons who violate this Loitering Ordinance, including juveniles and
Parents and Guardians of juveniles pursuant to Section 5(A), shall be
subject to penalties as set forth in Section 1-17 of the Code of the
Borough of Carteret.
.SECTION 6: Repealer
Any or all ordinances inconsistent with this Ordinance are hereby repealed to the
extent of such consistencies only.
SECTION 7: Severability
If any provisions of this Ordinance is held unconstitutional or otherwise found
invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions of this
Ordinance shall not be invalidated.
This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days following the approval of the
Mayor and Council providing it is published in accordance with the law.
DO NOI' USE SPACE BELOW Tills LINE --
RECORD OF COUNCIL VOTE
COUNCIL~~ cOUNC~
X - Indicate Vole AB - Abscn~ NV - Not Voting
Adopted on first ~eading of the Council of Ihe Borough of Caneret, N.J., on _. ~Y 7~ 1~ ~
Adopled on second reading after hearing on _
APPROVED u ~ M~R .