A New Jersey police department will begin issuing citations to the parents of unruly juveniles in light of recent crimes involving underage visitors in towns along the famous Jersey Shore, a major tourist haven.
The Margate City Police Department announced last week that it will enforce a city ordinance that allows officers to intervene when an unsupervised juvenile is "engaging in any behavior that is unlawful, puts their safety at risk, or if they ignore lawful commands from officers attempting to keep them safe" from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
In recent months, a teen was stabbed on the boardwalk in nearby Ocean City on Memorial Day weekend. In response to the violence and other incidents, the city of Wildwood has banned backpacks on its beach and boardwalk from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
In Margate City, officers will bring the unsupervised juveniles to the police department, where a parent or guardian will be contacted to pick them up.
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The parents will then be issued a summons if needed and the child will be charged with the offense for which they were detained.
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"We are pushed to our limit and… we are asking parents to be responsible for the actions of their underage and unsupervised children," police said in a Facebook post.
The ordinance, called "Ordinance 117-4 Parental Responsibility," provides penalties for parents or guardians, having the care and custody of a minor, who "knowingly permit such minor to loiter, idle, wander, stroll or play in or upon the public streets, highways, roads, alleys, parks, playgrounds, wharves, docks or other public grounds, public places and public buildings, places of amusement and entertainment, vacant lots or any automobile or vehicle or other unsupervised places... between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. of the following day."
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"We, and other police departments and public officials in the state, have asked parents to better supervise their children over the past few years. To date, those calls have been met with limited, or no, success, leading us to take this action to ensure the safety of those in the community," police said.
