Township of Washington, NJ Chapter 296 Loitering

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Washington 5-17-1982 by Ord. No. 82-6 (Ch. 142 of the 1985 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 296-1 Definitions.

Wherever used in this chapter, the following terms shall be deemed and construed to have the following meanings:

LOITERING

Remaining idle in essentially one location, whether on foot or in or upon any conveyance, and shall include the concepts of spending time idly, loafing, moving about aimlessly, and shall also include the colloquial expression "hanging around."

PRIVATE PROPERTY

Any real property, building or other place under private ownership or control.

PUBLIC PLACE

Any street, sidewalk, park, building or other place under the ownership or control of the Township of Washington, or any other place, whether publicly or privately owned, upon which the public is invited or over which it has access, including, by way of illustration but not limitation, the neighborhood of any store, shop, restaurant, tavern, school property, mall, shopping center or other place of business, including parking areas.

§ 296-2 Types of loitering prohibited.

A. Subject to the provisions of §§ 296-3 and 296-5 hereof, no person shall loiter in a public place in such manner as to:

(1) Obstruct, molest or interfere with any person. This provision shall include the making of unsolicited remarks of an offensive, disgusting or insulting nature or which are calculated to annoy or disturb the person to whom or in whose hearing they are made.

(2) Obstruct the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles.

(3) Obstruct business display windows from the view of pedestrians or passengers.

(4) Create or cause to be created any disturbance or annoyance to the comfort and repose of any person.

(5) Create or cause to be created a danger of a breach of the peace.

B. Subject to the provisions of §§ 296-4 and 296-5 hereof, no person shall loiter on private property in such manner as to come within the purview of any of the proscribed conduct enumerated in Subsection A of this section, nor remain on private property after a person having ownership or control over such private property has requested that such person leave.

§ 296-3 Violations in public places.

Whenever any police officer shall, in the exercise of reasonable judgment, determine that any person is loitering in the manner described in § 296-2A hereof, the police officer shall direct such person to cease such loitering or to leave such public place, and any person who shall fail to comply with such directive shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.

§ 296-4 Violations on private property.

Whenever any police officer shall, in the exercise of reasonable judgment, determine that any person is loitering in the manner described in § 296-2B hereof, the police officer shall direct such person to cease such loitering or to leave such private property, and any person who shall fail to comply with such directive shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.

§ 296-5 Duration of directive to cease loitering.

Any person who has received a directive as described in §§ 296-3 or 296-4 of this chapter and who commits an act prohibited by § 296-2A or B in the same place in which such directive was given within five calendar days after the date on which such directive was given shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Original Section F, Penalty, which followed this section, was repealed 6-3-1985 by Ord. No. 85-5.