Teens’ loitering draws
close look from officials
August riot at movies prompts Freehold Twp. to review situation
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Members of the Township Committee are wrestling with the issue of teenage loitering, especially at the Freehold Raceway Mall and the Loews movie theaters on Trotters Way.
Recently, committee members asked Township Attorney Duane Davison to draft a curfew ordinance, but once they looked at all of the ramifications of adopting such a law, they decided that was not the way to go.
Now, members of the governing body have decided to try to work something out among the township attorney, the police and the theater operator.
Committeeman David Salkin said, "The chief of police is going to sit down with the attorney and the theater [operator] to discuss different methods of solving the problem," which he said is greatest when the mall closes at 9:30 and teens walk over to hang out at the front of the theater and wait for their parents to pick them up.
"There are parents who drop kids off without any money and the kid has nothing to do but just hang out. It has been an ongoing problem, but the riot was the last straw," Salkin added.
The riot Salkin referred to occurred on Aug. 15 and involved more than 200 teenagers who were loitering in front of the movie theater at 11:15 p.m. on a Friday night. The melee led to the arrests of nine teenagers and minor injuries to two police officers.
Of the nine people arrested, one came from Freehold Township, the others came from Freehold Borough, Manalapan and Howell. All of the accused individuals were released to their parents or released on bail.
The proposed curfew ordinance would have made it unlawful for juveniles to be in any public place covered under the ordinance between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless accompanied by a parent, traveling between home and work, or going to or from an emergency. Another exception would have been if the juvenile was traveling from home to a religious service, or to an extracurricular activity or to community-based organization sponsored activities.
The penalty for violating the curfew law would have included performing community service and a fine of up to $1,000. If the parents or guardians were found guilty of violating the law, they would also have been required to perform up to 90 days of community service together with the juveniles.
Salkin said that in trying to control loitering, municipal officials do not want to take something away from young people who are not causing problems.
Deputy Mayor Anthony Ammiano agreed, saying, "We don’t want to punish the good kids."
Manalapan, Marlboro and Colts Neck do not have curfew ordinances, except on Halloween.
Freehold Borough has a curfew of 11 p.m. for everyone under the age of 17. Teenagers under the age of 15 need to be off the street at 10 p.m.
In Lakewood there is a curfew of 10 p.m. for those 16 and under and in Howell, the 10 p.m. curfew applies to those under 18 years old.
In Englishtown, the curfew applies to those 17 and under and runs between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.