New Hope has a law that allows police to make "in view" arrests, such as public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, without getting a warrant
By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
NEW HOPE — The borough has a new ordinance that allows police to make arrests for certain offenses that are “in view,” such as public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, without obtaining a warrant.
The ordinance was a matter of “housekeeping” and enacted on the advice of the town’s insurer, Police Chief Rick Pasqualini said. It brings the borough’s ordinances in line with current Pennsylvania law.
Underage drinking is one of the main targets, and, “unfortunately, it does happen a lot,” Chief Pasqualini said.
The Borough Council held a public hearing and approved the ordinance Aug. 8.
The new ordinance allows officers to arrest juveniles who are drinking even if other behaviors previously deemed necessary before the arrest, such as disorderly conduct or an infraction of traffic laws, are absent.
The borough’s new law brings the town into accord with a 1994 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision.
The court ruled the state’s underage drinking law did not allow for warrant-less arrests of juveniles if other behavior creating a danger to the juveniles or others was absent.
But police officers may make arrests for the violation of a borough ordinance, hence the need now to make sure such an ordinance is on the books.
The court said without legislation clearly outlining a police officer’s right to arrest in this situation, officers were obligated merely to notify a juvenile’s parents, according to the insurer, the Delaware Valley Insurance Trust in Willow Grove, Pa.
When a local police department has a policy of arresting juveniles for underage drinking, it creates a conflict if there is no specific local ordinance in place to govern the arrest. Without the ordinance, such an arrest could be seen as unconstitutional, according to the insurer.
The bottom line, the insurer said, is if local police officers are going to cite a juvenile for underage drinking, a local law should be on the books.
While this should be a “common sense” matter, the insurer says, current case law in Pennsylvania makes it necessary to have the new ordinance in place.

