[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Carteret 11-3-1976 as Sec. 6-6 of the 1970 Revised Ordinances; amended in its entirety 11-19-1996 by Ord. No. 96-25. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Public entertainment — See Ch. 126.
Noise — See Ch. 172.
Parental responsibility — See Ch. 176.
For purposes of this chapter, terms used are defined as follows:
LOITERING
Remaining idle in essentially one location and shall include the concepts of spending time idly, loafing or walking about aimlessly and shall also include the colloquial expression "hanging around."
PARENT or GUARDIAN
Any adult person having care or custody of a minor, whether by reason of blood relationship, the order of any court or otherwise.
PUBLIC PLACE
Any place to which the public has access and shall include any street, highway, road, alley or sidewalk. It shall also include the front or the neighborhood of any store, shop, restaurant, tavern or other place of business and public grounds, areas or parks, as well as parking lots or other vacant private property not owned by or under the control of the person charged with violating this chapter, or, in the case of a minor, not owned or under the control of his parent or guardian.
[Amended 6-4-1998 by Ord. No. 98-22]
A. 
Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following terms shall be defined as follows:
ADULT
Includes natural or adoptive parents.
GUARDIAN
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 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 parents 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 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
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.
B. 
Loitering.
(1) 
Certain types of loitering prohibited. No person shall loiter in a public place in such manner as to:
(a) 
Create or cause to be created a danger of a breach of the peace.
(b) 
Create or cause to be created any disturbance or annoyance to the comfort and repose of any person.
(c) 
Obstruct the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles.
(d) 
Obstruct, molest or interfere with any person lawfully in any public place as defined in § 168-1 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.
(2) 
Discretion of police officer. Whenever any police officer shall, in the exercise of reasonable judgment, 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.
C. 
Responsibilities of the parent or guardian. A parent or legal guardian shall not permit or, by ineffective control, allow a minor to violate this loitering.
D. 
Enforcement procedures.
(1) 
Any juvenile found by a police officer to be in violation of Subsection A or B of this section shall be taken into police custody and released thereafter to his or her parent or guardian. The parent and guardian, as defined in § 168-1, shall immediately be notified and required to report to police headquarters to procure the juvenile.
(2) 
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 judgment in determining age.
(3) 
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, thus making available personnel and access to information and records.
(4) 
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.
(5) 
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.
(6) 
If the juvenile has been issued a warning, or convicted of violating this ordinance on a prior occasion within six 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 known of the juvenile's violation of this section.
E. 
Violations and penalties.
(1) 
After receipt of a warning notice pursuant to Subsection D(5) of a first violation by a juvenile, if the juvenile is found guilty of a second loitering violation, he shall be deemed to be in violation of this chapter and subject to the penalties set forth in Subsection E(2); the parents and guardian of the juvenile shall also be subject to prosecution under this chapter under such circumstances.
(2) 
All persons who violate this loitering ordinance, including juveniles and parents and guardians of juveniles pursuant to Subsection E(1), shall be subject to penalties as set forth in § 1-17 of the Code of the Borough of Carteret.
A. 
No person or persons shall make, aid, assign, create or cause to be created any riot, breach of peace or disturbance or be guilty of any disorderly conduct or open drunkenness or drink intoxicating liquors in the open streets or highways of the Borough of Carteret or other quasi-public open places in the borough.
B. 
Repairs, construction work or maintenance, including use of lawn mowers or other types of equipment, which involves annoyance to person or persons, shall not be performed except on Monday through Friday, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
No person or persons shall loiter in the streets or highways or in public or quasi-public places or utter loud, offensive, indecent language in the streets or highways or in other public or quasi-public places or make improper noise, utter loud, offensive or indecent language or remarks or indecent language on private property so that the same is audible to the public beyond the confines of said private property or make offensive or improper gestures to any person or persons on such street, highways or public places or conduct himself in any manner contrary to public decency; nor shall any person or persons trespass upon the property of another without permission of the owner, occupant or lessee.
No person or persons in a vehicle shall make offensive remarks or gestures to any person or persons in a public place, these remarks being uncalled for and unwanted and contrary to proper decorum. No person or persons in a vehicle shall accost male or female persons on foot or in another vehicle in a seductive or enticing manner or in any manner contrary to good taste and decorum, either by words, gestures or mannerisms.
No person shall keep or maintain a disorderly house or a home of ill fame or allow or permit any house, shop, store or other building owned or occupied by him or her to be used as a disorderly house or house of ill fame, to be frequented or resorted to by riotous or disorderly persons, prostitutes, gamblers or vagrants.
No person shall, within the limits of the said borough, maliciously destroy, damage or injure the personal property or real property of any person, firm or corporation or any public property, whether the same be personal or real; nor shall any person place or cause to be placed any material or obstruction or interfere in any manner whatsoever with public or private property, specifically, but not by way of limitation, sewers, drainage and water facilities, whether they be located on public roads or private property; nor shall any person suffer any interference, damage or injury to any public or private property which shall affect the normal use thereof.
No person shall:
A. 
Mutilate or remove any notice or damage, destroy or remove any warning sign or signal or remove any barricade placed or posted on any highway in connection with or relating to the closing of any road.
B. 
Drive any vehicle over or upon the closed portion of any highway.
C. 
Violate any rule or regulation for the use of any highway.
No person shall place, throw, suffer or permit the depositing of any stone, sticks, glass, snow or ice or any hard, dangerous or offensive substance upon any street, avenue, road, highway or other public thoroughfare; nor shall any person throw any such object or substance at, upon or against any person, vehicle of transportation, building or other structure.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be subject to the penalties set forth in § 1-17 of this code.
[Added 3-5-1998 by Ord. No. 98-8; amended 6-4-1998 by Ord. No. 98-27]
A. 
Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following terms shall be defined to mean:
ADULT
Includes natural or adoptive parents.
JUVENILE/MINOR
Shall be used interchangeably and shall mean any individual who is 16 years of age or less.
GUARDIAN
A person, other than the 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.
PUBLIC PLACE
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.
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 parents 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 of such minor.
YEAR OF AGE
Continues from one birthday, such as the 13th to (but not including the day of) the next such as the 14th birthday, making it clear that 13 or less years of age is herein treated as equivalent to the phase "under 14 years of age."
B. 
Hours; exceptions.
(1) 
It shall be unlawful for juveniles 13 years of age and under to be in any public place within the Borough of Carteret between the hours of 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and 6:00 a.m. on the next day following and 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 6:00 a.m. on the next following day.
[Amended 8-29-2000 by Ord. No. 00-33]
(2) 
It shall be unlawful for juveniles 14 to 16 years of age to be in any public place within the Borough of Carteret between the hours of 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and 6:00 a.m. on the day next following and 12:00 midnight on Friday and Saturday and to 6:00 a.m. on the day next following.
[Amended 8-29-2000 by Ord. No. 00-33]
(3) 
The prohibition of Subsection B(1) does not apply if said juvenile is:
(a) 
Accompanied by his/her parent or guardian.
(b) 
When the minor is accompanied by an adult authorized by the parent for a designated time and for a specific purpose.
(c) 
When exercising First Amendment (Constitutional) rights protected by the United States Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, speech and assembly, which includes but is not limited to school, church and social activities. Minors must have written communications, signed by a parent and minor, specifying when, where and in what manner the minor will be on the streets during curfew hours, and stating home address and telephone number.
(d) 
When the minor is within 50 feet of his/her residence.
(e) 
When the minor has a work permit, and is en route to or from employment.
(f) 
When attending a school or borough-sponsored sporting event within the Borough of Carteret, the minor has one hour after completion of the event.
C. 
Halloween time.
[Added 8-20-2001 by Ord. No. 00-33[1]]
(1) 
It shall be unlawful for juveniles 16 years of age and under to be in any public place within the Borough of Carteret on October 30 of each year, irrespective of the day of the week on which it shall fall, between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. on the day next following. This subsection is intended to be in addition to Subsection B(1) and (2) of this section and shall not be interpreted to be modified by those subsections.
(2) 
It shall be unlawful for juveniles sixteen years of age and under to "trick-or-treat" after 7:00 p.m. on October 31, Halloween, of each year.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance provided for the redesignation of former Subsections C through F as Subsection D through G, respectively.
D. 
Responsibilities of the parent or guardian. A parent or legal guardian shall not permit or, by ineffective control, allow a minor to violate the curfew ordinance.
E. 
Enforcement procedures.
(1) 
Any juvenile found by a police officer to be in violation of Subsection B(1) or (2) of this section shall be taken into police custody and released thereafter to his or her parent or guardian. The parent or guardian, as defined in Subsection A, shall immediately be notified and required to report to police headquarters to procure the juvenile.
(2) 
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 judgment in determining age.
(3) 
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, thus making available personnel and access to information and records.
(4) 
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 an 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.
(5) 
A formal warning shall be issued to a first offender and served upon the parent or guardian in person or by certified mail; thereafter, a nonindictable summons shall be issued to a second offender and served upon the parent or guardian in person or by certified mail.
(6) 
Police procedures shall constantly be refined in the light of experience and may provide that the police officer may deliver to a parent or guardian thereof a juvenile under appropriate circumstances.
(7) 
A police officer discharging an enforcement obligation under this section shall file the applicable reports. It is not the intention of this section to require extensive reports that will prevent police officers from performing their primary police duties. The reports shall be simple as is reasonably possible.
(8) 
If the juvenile has been convicted of violating this section on a prior occasion within six months of the date of the alleged subsequent violation, there shall be a presumption that the parent or guardian having care of the juvenile knew or should have known of the juvenile's violation of this section.
F. 
Violations and penalties.
(1) 
After receipt of a warning notice pursuant to Subsection E(5) of a first violation by a juvenile, if the juvenile is found guilty of a second curfew violation, he shall be deemed to be in violation of this section and subject to the penalties set forth in Subsection F(3); the parent or guardian of the juvenile shall also be subject to prosecution under this section.
(2) 
Any juvenile who violates any of the provisions of this section more than four times shall be reported by the Chief of Police or his designee to the juvenile authorities as a juvenile in need of supervision and may proceed to file such charges with the Superior Court of New Jersey, Family Part, as deemed appropriate.
(3) 
The following penalties may be imposed:
[Amended 4-2-1998 by Ord. No. 98-18]
(a) 
First offense: written warning.
(b) 
Second offense: fine up to $200.
(c) 
Third offense: fine of not less than $100, nor greater than $500.
(d) 
Fourth offense: fine of not less than $100 nor greater than $1,000.
G. 
Notice. Notice of the existence of this section and of the Curfew Regulations established by it shall be posted in, 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 this section and its regulations.
[Added 10-5-2001 by Ord. No. 00-36]
A. 
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
MOBILE TELEPHONE
Includes but not limited to cellular, analog and wireless digital telephones.
USE
To use a mobile telephone in dialing; answering; talking; and listening.
PARK
For an automatic transmission vehicle, that the vehicle is in the park gear, for a standard transmission, that the vehicle is in the neutral gear and the brake is being utilized or the vehicle is otherwise stationary.
B. 
Purpose. It is the purpose of this section and the policy of the municipality to regulate the use of mobile telephones by persons operating motor vehicles in order to protect other persons within the municipality. This section shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its purposes and policy.
C. 
Severability. In the event that any provision of this section is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unconstitutional or unenforceable, such provision shall be deemed severable from the remainder of this section and shall not cause the invalidity of unenforceability of the remainder of this section; and if a provision shall be deemed invalid only because of excessive scope or breadth, the provision shall be deemed valid to the extent of the scope and breadth permitted by law.
D. 
Use; restrictions.
(1) 
Permitted uses. Notwithstanding anything contained in this chapter to the contrary, this section shall not be construed to prohibit the use of mobile telephones by:
(a) 
Any law enforcement, public safety or police officers, emergency management officials, first aid, emergency medical technicians and personnel and fire safety officials in the performance of duties arising out of and in the course of their employment as such;
(b) 
A person who is using the mobile telephone to contact public safety forces under emergent conditions; or
(c) 
While maintaining the vehicle in the parked position either on public or private property or with a hands-free device which allows the operator to maintain both hands on the vehicle applicable steering device while using the mobile telephone.
(2) 
Restrictions. No person shall operate a motor vehicle on any street or highway while engaging in any conduct defined as the "use" of a mobile telephone unless the operator is using a mobile telephone with hands-free technology for dialing, answering, talking and listening and maintains both hands on the applicable steering device.
E. 
Penalties. Violations of any provision of this section shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $250.