[Ord. 1105, 12/16/2008]
This Part 5 shall be known and may be cited as the "Curfew Ordinance."
[Ord. 1105, 12/16/2008]
The background of this Part and the legislative intention of
the Borough Council in enacting it are as follows:
A.
To promote the general welfare and protect the general public through
the reduction of juvenile violence and crime within the Borough.
B.
To promote the safety and well-being of the Borough's youngest
citizens, persons 17 years of age and under, whose inexperience renders
them particularly vulnerable to becoming participants in unlawful
activities, including but not limited to unlawful drug activities,
and to being victimized by older perpetrators of crime.
C.
To foster and strengthen parental responsibility for children.
[Ord. 1105, 12/16/2008]
For the purposes of this Part 5, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein.
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present
tense include the future, words in the plural number include the singular,
and words in the singular number include the plural. The word "shall"
is always mandatory and not merely directory.
A person 18 years of age or older.
The Borough of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
The hours of 10:00 p.m. through 5:00 a.m., prevailing time,
on Sunday through Thursday, and 12:00 midnight through 5:00 a.m.,
prevailing time, on Friday and Saturday.
Unforeseen circumstances, or the status or condition resulting
therefrom, requiring immediate action to safeguard life, limb or property.
The term includes but is not limited to fires, natural disasters,
wars, automobile accidents, or other similar circumstances.
Any place within the Borough to which the public is invited,
including but not limited to any place of amusement or entertainment.
With respect to such establishment, the term "operator" shall mean
any person and any firm, association, partnership or corporation (and
the members, officers or partners thereof) conducting or managing
that establishment.
Any person under the age of 18, in equivalent phrasing often
herein employed, any person 17 or less years of age, which person
has not been emancipated by a final order of a court of competent
jurisdiction.
A police or other law enforcement officer charged with the
duty of enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and/or
ordinances of the Borough.
Any person and any firm, association, partnership or corporation
(and the members, officers or partners thereof) conducting or managing
an establishment.
Any person having legal custody of a minor, including but
not limited to:
A person who is a minor's biological or adoptive parent,
including either parent if custody is shared under a court order or
agreement.
A person who is the biological or adoptive parent with whom
a minor regularly resides.
A person appointed as a legal guardian of the minor by a final
order of a court of competent jurisdiction or who has been granted
custody of the minor by a final order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
An individual or entity charged with care or custody of the
minor, including but not limited to a county children and youth agency,
halfway house, treatment facility, etc.
Any place to which the public or a substantial group of the
public has access, including but not limited to streets, rights-of-way,
highways, roads, sidewalks, alleys, avenues, parks, and/or the common
areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transportation
facilities and establishments.
Includes the following:
A nonlocked, nonrestrictive shelter at which minors may wait,
under visual supervision, to be retrieved by a parent. No minors waiting
in such facility shall be handcuffed and/or secured (by handcuffs
or otherwise) to any stationary object.
Continues from one birthday, such as the 17th, to (but not
including the day of) the next, such as the 18th birthday, making
it clear that 17 or less years of age is equivalent to the phrase
"under 18 years of age."
[Ord. 1105, 12/16/2008]
1.
Curfew Established. It shall be unlawful for a minor to remain in,
on or upon any public place within the Borough, to remain in any motor
vehicle operating or parked therein or thereon, or to remain in, on
or upon the premises of any establishment within the Borough during
curfew hours.
2.
Exceptions. It shall not be a violation of the prohibitions of Subsection
A if:
A.
The minor is accompanied by a parent;
B.
The minor is involved in an emergency;
C.
The minor is engaged in a bona-fide employment activity or is going
to or returning home from such activity without detour or stop;
D.
The minor is on the sidewalk directly abutting a place where he or
she resides with a parent;
E.
The minor is attending, with parental permission, an activity sponsored
by a school, religious, or civic organization, or other public organization
or public agency, which activity is supervised by adults, and/or the
minor is going to or returning from such an activity without detour
or stop;
F.
The minor is on an errand at the direction of a parent and the minor
has in his or her possession a writing signed by the parent containing
the following information: the name, signature, address and telephone
number of the parent authorizing the errand, the telephone number
where the parent may be reached during the errand, the name of the
minor, and a brief description of the errand, the minor's destination(s)
and the hours the minor is authorized to be engaged in the errand;
G.
The minor is involved in interstate travel through, or beginning
or terminating in, the Borough;
H.
The minor is exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United
States Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, freedom
of speech and the right of assembly. Such minor shall evidence the
bona fides of such exercise by first delivering to the Police Department
at its main address a written communication, signed by such minor
and countersigned by a parent, which includes their home address,
telephone number, and the right to be exercised, such communication
to be addressed to the Mayor, and further specifying when, where and
in what manner said minor will be exercising such right during curfew
hours.
3.
Culpability. It shall be unlawful for any of the following persons
to violate, permit or cause a violation of this Part, by intent or
neglect, and they may be charged with such violation:
A.
The minor.
B.
The parent or parents of the minor.
C.
The owner or operator of any motor vehicle in which the minor is
a driver or passenger.
D.
The owner, operator, employee or person in control of an establishment.
It shall be a defense to prosecution under this subsection that such
person promptly notified the Police Department that a minor was present
at, in or upon the establishment during curfew hours and refused to
leave.
4.
False information. It shall be unlawful for any person, including
any minor, to give a false name, address, age or telephone number
to any officer investigating a possible violation of this Part.
[Ord. 1105, 12/16/2008]
1.
Minors. Before taking any enforcement action hereunder, an officer
shall make an immediate investigation for the purpose of ascertaining
whether or not there is a violation of the provisions of this Part.
If such investigation reveals that a minor has violated any of the
provisions of this Part, then:
A.
If the minor has not previously been issued a warning for a violation,
then the officer shall issue a verbal warning to the minor, which
shall be followed by a written warning mailed by the officer by certified
mail, restricted delivery, return receipt requested, to the minor
and his or her parent(s); or
B.
If the minor has previously been issued a warning for a violation,
then the officer shall charge the minor with a violation of this Part.
In addition, as soon as practicable, the officer shall:
(1)
Release the minor to his or her parent(s);
(2)
Place the minor in a temporary care facility for a period not
to exceed the remainder of the curfew hours, so a parent may retrieve
the minor; or
(3)
If the minor refuses to give an officer his or her name and
address, refuses to give the name and address of his or her parent(s),
or if no parent can be located prior to the end of the applicable
curfew hours, or if located, no parent appears to accept custody of
the minor, the minor may be taken to a nonsecure crisis center or
juvenile shelter and/or may be taken to a judge or intake officer
of the juvenile court to be dealt with in the manner and pursuant
to such procedures as required by law.
2.
Other Persons. If an investigation by an officer reveals that a person
has violated any provision of this Part and if the person has not
previously been issued a warning with respect to any such violation,
the officer shall issue a verbal warning to the person, which shall
be followed by a written warning mailed by the officer by certified
mail, restricted delivery, return receipt requested, to the person;
provided, however, that if any such warning has been previously issued
to that person, then the officer shall charge the person with a violation.
[Ord. 1105, 12/16/2008; as amended by Ord. 1170, 3/16/2021]
Any person who shall violate the provisions of this Part 5 shall,
upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine not less than
$250 or exceeding $1,500 and costs or to imprisonment for a term not
to exceed 30 days.
[Ord. 1105, 12/16/2008]
From time to time upon its request, the Borough Council may
require reports from the Chief of Police as to the effectiveness of
the provisions of this Part. Such report shall include the following
matters at a minimum:
A.
The practicality of enforcing the provisions of this Part and any
problems with enforcement identified by the Police Department;
B.
The impact and cost of enforcing the provisions of this Part;
C.
Other data and information which the Police Department believes to
be relevant in assessing the effectiveness of the provisions of this
Part; and
D.
Information from citizens regarding whether the provisions of this
Part have been administered and enforced fairly, including information
regarding the age, gender and race of those charged or detained.
[Ord. 1105, 12/16/2008]
The provisions of this Part are severable, and if any paragraph,
subparagraph, clause, section, subsection, sentence, phrase or part
thereof shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to
be illegal, invalid or unconstitutional, such judgment or decision
shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall
be confined in its operation and application to the paragraph, subparagraph,
clause, section, subsection, sentence, phrase or part thereof rendered
illegal, invalid or unconstitutional. It is hereby declared to be
the intent of the Borough Council that this Part would have been adopted
if such illegal, invalid or unconstitutional paragraph, subparagraph,
clause, section, subsection, sentence, phrase or part thereof had
not been included herein.
