CHAPTER
55 CURFEW
§ 55-1. Short title.
§ 55-2. Definitions.
§ 55-3. Curfew for minors.
§ 55-5. Parental responsibility.
§ 55-6. Police procedures.
§ 55-7. Violations and penalties.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of North Londonderry 12-14-1993 as Ord. No. 97. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Curfew Ordinance".
The following words or phrases, when used in this chapter, shall
have the following definitions:
MINOR - Any person under the age of eighteen (18), or in equivalent phrasing
often herein employed, any person seventeen (17) years or less years of age.
PARENT - Any person having legal custody of a minor as a natural or adoptive
parent, as a legal guardian, as a person who stands in loco parentis of or as a
person to whom legal custody has been given by order of court.
STREET - A way or place, of whatsoever nature, open to the use of the
public as a matter of right for purposes of vehicular travel or, in the case of
a sidewalk thereof, for pedestrian travel. The term "street" includes the
legal right-of-way, including but not limited to the cartway of traffic lanes,
the curb, the sidewalks, whether paved or unpaved, and any grass plots or other
grounds found within the legal right-of-way of a street.
TOWNSHIP - The governmental jurisdiction and legal entity of North
Londonderry Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.
It shall be unlawful for any person seventeen (17) or less years of age [under eighteen (18) years of age] to be or remain in or upon the streets within North Londonderry Township at night during the prevailing time period beginning at 11:30 p.m. and ending at 6:00 a.m.
In the following exceptional cases, a minor on a Township
street during the hours which § 55-3 specifies, to provide the maximum limits of
regulation, shall not be considered in violation of the Curfew Chapter:
A. When accompanied by a parent of such minor or an adult
authorized by a parent of such minor to take said parent's place in accompanying
said minor for a designated period of time and purpose within a specified area.
B. In case of reasonable necessity, but only after such
minor's parent has communicated to North Londonderry Township Police personnel
the facts establishing such reasonable necessity, relating to specified streets
at a designated time for a described purpose, including points of origin and
destination. A copy of such communication with an appropriate notation of
the time it was received, and the names and address of such parent and minor,
shall be admissible evidence.
C. When the minor is on the sidewalk of the place where
such minor resides, or on the sidewalk of any abutting contiguous property, when
the owner of such property is not communicating an objection to the police
officer.
D. When returning home, by a direct route from [and within
thirty (30) minutes of the termination of] a school activity or an activity of a
religious or other voluntary association.
E. When the minor carries a certified card of employment,
signed by his or her employer, which briefly identifies the minor, the minor's
place of employment, the minor's home address and the hours of employment.
It shall be unlawful for a parent having legal custody of a minor to knowingly permit or by inefficient control to allow such minor to be or remain upon any Township street under circumstances not constituting an exception to, or otherwise beyond the scope of, the Curfew Chapter. The term "knowingly" includes knowledge which a parent should reasonably be expected to have concerning the whereabouts of a minor in that parent's legal custody. It shall, a fortiori, be no defense that a parent was completely indifferent to the activities or conduct or whereabouts of such minor.
A. A police officer of North Londonderry
Township, upon finding or having attention called to any minor on the streets in
prima facie violation of the Curfew Chapter, normally shall take the minor to
the Township police station, where a parent shall immediately be notified to
come for such minor, whereupon the parent and/or parents shall be interviewed.
B. When a parent, immediately called, has come to take
charge of the minor and the appropriate information has been recorded, the minor
shall be released to the custody of such parent. If the parent cannot be
located or fails to take charge of the minor, then the minor shall be released
to the juvenile authorities, except to the extent that, in accordance with
police regulations, approved in advance by juvenile authorities, the minor may
temporarily be entrusted to a relative, neighbor or other person who will, on
behalf of a parent, assume the responsibility of caring for the minor pending
the availability or arrival of a parent.
C. In the case of a first violation by a minor, the
Chief of Police shall, by certified mail, send to a parent written notice of
said violation with a warning that any subsequent violation may result in full
enforcement of the Curfew Chapter, including enforcement of parental
responsibility and of applicable penalties.
A. If after the warning notice pursuant
to § 55-6 (Police procedures) of a first violation by a minor, a parent violates
§ 55-5 (Parental responsibility) in connection with a second violation by said
minor, this shall be treated as a first offense by the parent. For such first
parental offense, a parent shall be fined twenty-five dollars ($25.), and for
each subsequent offense by a parent, the fine shall be increased by an
additional twenty-five dollars ($25.), e.g., fifty dollars ($50.) for the second
and seventy-five dollars ($75.) for the third offense. The District
Justice, upon finding a parent in violation, shall require the parent to pay
such fine and court costs. [Amended 6-11-1996 by Ord. No. 108]
B. Any minor who shall violate any of the provisions of the
Curfew Chapter more than three (3) times shall be
reported by the Chief of Police to the appropriate juvenile authorities.
C. A like procedure, before the juvenile authorities,
shall be followed in any case where the imposing of a fine or fines upon a
parent shall not be effective or where for any reason the provisions of the
Curfew Chapter cannot be made effective by the imposing of penalties under this
section.