HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 16071
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ORDINANCE NO. 1607
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BURLINGAME
AMENDING CHAPTER 10.24 — CURFEW FOR MINORS
The CITY COUNCIL of the CITY OF BURL INGAME does hereby ordain as follows:
Section 1.
A. The United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that the common
curfew laws in the State of California are no longer valid, and that they must be rewritten to allow
minors more rights to travel after the hour set by the community as a curfew for minors. This
ordinance is intended to address the objections made by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and
to narrowly provide a means for the City to provide protection to minors who may be left without
or outside of parental supervision.
B. The City's curfew law has served the City well. Juvenile crime and graffiti have been
minimized, and there is a strong sense of safety and security in the commercial and residential
districts of the City. However, the popularity of the Bayfront and the entertainment areas of
Burlingame Avenue and Broadway is attracting a rowdy and criminal element that requires law
enforcement involvement and poses significant danger to young people in the nighttime. Because
minors are prohibited from bars and taverns that provide most of the centers for gathering and
entertainment, they can instead be led into illegal consumption of alcohol, use of drugs, gang
activities, and vandalism. There are few reasons for a minor, particularly of the age of sixteen and
below, to be hanging out after ten p.m.
C. As with labor laws governing employment of minors, this narrowly drafted ordinance
will allow minors to undertake necessary activities, while ensuri
ng they are safe.
D. This ordinance allows parents the right to appropri
ately supervise and guide their
children, while ensuring that the vast majority of parents' concern
s about their children's safety are
addressed by complementary
government assistance. In addition, many homes have single parents
or both parents working, making supervision more difficult. Law enforcement officers wi11
be able
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to verify that children have legitimate business in the middle of the night, and that they have the
permission of their parents or guardians to be out and about.
E. A curfew ordinance also provides an effective weapon in combating juvenile crime.
This ordinance establishes hours when minors are not expected to be present in residential and
commercial neighborhoods, and law enforcement can appropriately intervene when a group of
juveniles is found in a residential or commercial neighborhood at strange hours of the night.
F. Cities that abandoned enforcement of curfew ordinances or repealed curfew ordinances
have found that juvenile crime and associated problems increased, and across the country, cities
have begun to adopt or enforce curfew laws similar to the previous City curfew ordinance and the
one proposed below. Those cities have found that adoption and enforcement are effective tools
in reducing gang violence, juvenile crime and vandalism, and other juvenile difficulties.
Section 2. Chapter 10.24 is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 10.24
CURFEW FOR MINORS
10.24.010
The following definitions
Definitions.
10.24.020
Curfew hours.
10.24.030
Exemptions.
10.24.040
Enforcement procedures.
10.24.010
Definitions.
shall apply to this chapter:
(a) "Emergency" means an unforeseen circumstance or circumstances or the resulting
situation that calls for immediate action to prevent serious injury, loss of life, or serious propert
mited to, a fire, natural disaster, or vehicle accident.
(b) "Guardian" means:
y
damage. The term includes, but is not li
(1) A person who is the guardian of the person of a minor pursuant to a court
order; or
or
(2) A public or private entity with whom a minor has been placed by a court order;
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minorI
(3) A person who is at least eighteen (18) years of age and authorized by a parent
or guardian to have the care and custody of a minor.
(c) "Minor" means a person under the age of eighteen years.
(d) "Parent" means a person who is a natural parent, adoptive parent, or step-parent of a
(e) "Public place" means:
(1) Any out -of --door area to which the public or a substantial group of the public
has access, including, but not limited to, streets, highways, sidewalks, alleys, parks,
playgroundsI or other public grounds; and
(2) The out -of --doors common areas, such as entry ways and parking lots, of
businesses to which the public is invited, including but not limited to, any place of
amusement, entertainment, or recreation.
10.24.020 Curfew hours.
(a) It is unlawful for any minor under the age of sixteen (16) years to be in any public place
within the city between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., except as provided in Section
10.24.030 below.
(b) It is unlawful for any minor under the age of eighteen (18) years to be in any public
place within the city between the hours of 11:30 p.m. an
d 5:00 a.m., except as provided in Section
10.24.030 below.
10.24.030 Exemptions.
A minor shall not be in violation of Section 10.24.020 if at the time that the minor was
detained by peace officer, the minor was:
(a) Accompanied by the minor's parent or guardian; or
(b) On an errand at the direction of the minor's parent or guardian, without unnecessary
detour or stop; or
(c) Driving or riding in a motor vehicle or publicly owned transportation; or
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(d) Engaged in lawful volunteer or paid employment activity, or going to or returning home
from a lawful volunteer or paid employment activity, without unnecessary detour or stop; or
(e) Acting in response to an emergency; or
(fj On the sidewalk abutting the minor's residence or abutting the residence that is
immediately adjacent to the minor's residence; or
(g) Attending or going to or returning home, without unnecessary detour or stop, from a
school, religious, cultural, sports, amusement, entertainment, or recreation activity, or any
organized rally, demonstration, meeting, or similar activity, or
(h) Waiting at a train or bus station or stop for transportation; or
(i) Emancipated in accordance with California law.
10.24.040 Enforcement procedures.
(a) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to preclude minors from being in a public
place for the purpose of exercising the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United
States Constitution or by the California Constitution, including the free exercise of religion,
freedom of speech, right of assembly, freedom of association, right to petition, and right to privacy
as applied by decisional law to minors of a particular age.
(b) Before taking enforcement action under this chapter, a peace officer shall ask the
apparent offender's age and reason for being in the public place.
(c) A peace officer may take enforcement action under this chapter only when the peace
officer has probable cause to believe that neither subsection (a) above nor any exemption under
Section 10.24.030 applies to the offender's reasons for being present in the public place.
Section 3. This ordinance shall be published as required bylaw.
Mayor
I, TiJDITH A. MALFATTI, City Clerk of the City of Burlingame, do hereby certify that
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the foregoing ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 4day
of January, 1999, and adopted thereafter at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 2&
day of January, 1999, by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: GALLIGAN, JANNEY, I{NIGHT, O'MAHONY, SPINELLI
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
S;\Ordivances\ord1607.ord.wpd
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