Teenagers
To All Concerned,
With respect to Ordinance 2294 regarding curfew for juveniles my concerns are with the enforcement of it. Personally, my son, although 18 years old, does not have a driver’s license nor any other form of state issued identification that he carries with him at all times. To my knowledge, there is no law that requires people to carry government issued identification with them at all times. He has private personal identification but that is for emergency purposes.
My questions are as follow:
- How will a police officer determine if someone is, in fact, a juvenile if there is no clear verification of age. Suppose someone who is 18 looks younger and has no ID but is hanging out after midnight? Would they be taken to their home? Would they be taken to the police station? Would they be arrested? Would unnecessary questioning occur?
- If someone is under 18 and is out after the curfew but for good cause (as mentioned in the ordinance), how would that be determined? An example, after the musical in March there is a wrap up party; last year that party was held at the Casano Community Center. If that party went on after midnight and a minor, for whatever reason, needed to walk home, how would an officer determine that there was, in fact, good cause for that minor to be out after hours? What would stop someone else who did not attend that party from stating such a reason?
These are just two examples that should be clarified before passing this ordinance. I fully understand that my son would, most likely, not experience harassment due to the fact that he is known to Roselle Park police officers as an upstanding citizen. The concern comes in when it is not my son or it is not this council or this current police force. What happens five or ten years down the line and what happens if it is another upstanding citizen who is not known to the police? Will this ordinance be misconstrued and cause more of a problem than a solution?
The intent of the law, to have a tool that can be used by the police to curtail incidents of robbery or other crimes, is well-meaning but the purpose of writing such intent as law is to remove any ambiguity and make any such intent have a specific interpretation.
This ordinance does not have sufficient enough clarification to remove any possible misinterpretation or misuse of authority.
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