What to Know
- Summer nights will be cut short for children and teens in a Jersey Shore municipality after the city council voted to approve a curfew in an attempt to crack down on unruly minors.
- Sea Isle City voted Tuesday to enact a curfew for everyone under the age of 18 between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
- Sea Isle City is not the only municipality along the Jersey Shore to look into imposing curfews to crack down on rowdy teenagers who in the past have taken over beaches and boardwalks during the summer nights.
Summer nights will be cut short for children and teens in a Jersey Shore municipality after the city council voted to approve a curfew in an attempt to crack down on unruly minors.
Sea Isle City voted Tuesday to enact a curfew for everyone under the age of 18 between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The ordinance states that the measure aims to protect minors as much as the rest of the city's residents.
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"The city has an interest to promote the safety and well-being of the City's youngest citizens, persons under eighteen (18) of age, whose inexperience renders them particularly vulnerable to becoming participants in unlawful activities, particularly unlawful drug activities, and to be victimized by older perpetrators of crime," the ordinance reads.
Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian if they are out at that time, because the ordinance also makes it "unlawful for any parent or guardian to allow an unaccompanied juvenile to be on any public street or in any public right-of-way during those hours."
The 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, if passed, will take place from May 15 to Sept. 15. Subsequently, from Sept. 16 to May 14, curfew shall be 11 p.m. until 6 a.m., and beginning 72 hours prior to Halloween and on Halloween night, curfew shall be 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. the following day.
If a minor is found to be in violation of the curfew, they will be given two "curbside warnings" and will be expected to leave the public space. If they refuse, they will be taken to a station and their parent, guardian or caretaker will be called. The minors will not receive any summonses or a juvenile delinquent charge.
However, if a parent, legal guardian, or caretaker violates the ordinance by allowing the children or teens to be out past curfew, the responsible adult party will be fined between $250 and $500 for the first offense. If a second offense takes place within one year of the first, the adult will be fined between $500 to $1,000. If a third offense occurs within a year of two or more violations, the adult will be fined between $1,000 to $1,500.
According to the ordinance, this is an attempt at reducing violence and crime among minors given "the threat of ongoing congregation of youth and others that could turn violent mandates the adoption of this prohibition."
Sea Isle City is not the only municipality along the Jersey Shore to look into imposing curfews to crack down on rowdy teenagers who in the past have taken over beaches and boardwalks during the summer nights.
Toms River brought back a beach curfew for minors in all its barrier island communities last summer that was in effect starting at 11 p.m. for everyone 17 or younger.
"We’re responding to the residents' request. We had a little pop up on Ortley Beach, we had a couple hundred kids gather on Third Avenue and the week before there was some problems around the Wawa (on Route 35)," said Toms River Mayor Mo Hill at the time. "We don’t want to inhibit the youngsters going out and have a good time, but we do want to prevent any property damage or mischief that might be going on."
On Memorial Day Weekend, parts of Ocean Terrace in the Normandy Beach neighborhood were filled with hundreds of young people.
"You see just wild kids, they go from one street to the next. Police chase them off one street, they go to the next street, it’s a real problem," said Bart Zabelski, who lives in the area.
Residents said that many of the kids are coming from the mainland by ride service companies.
"It's a nice family feel but when you have 200, 300 — and I’m not exaggerating — kids going up and down the street, well obviously that’s not a nice family feel," said another resident, Karla.
She said that many of the kids were carrying backpacks, which she said are full of alcohol or other substances. But she said that's not even the worst of it.
"These kids all have backpacks and you know nothing in that is legal," she said "They urinate on people’s yards and they leave their trash all over, and they curse like you cannot even imagine....worse than a sailor."
The issue of backpacks is also being tackled by Sea Isle City, where another ordinance could be up for vote Tuesday that would make all backpacks -- except in cases where they are carrying medical devices, essential work equipment for broadcast/electronic/or printed media, are Sea Isle City Police Department officers, or are active fishing on beach -- prohibited on the promenade, the beach, and beach street ends.
In neighboring Brick, the curfew is an hour earlier, at 10 p.m. Some Toms River residents have pushed for the township to adopt the earlier time as well. A spokesman for the town told NBC New York at the time that they will make adjustments if necessary, and that public safety always comes first.
Last year's curfews came as two other shore communities further north, Point Pleasant Beach and Long Branch, braced for pop-up parties, with some of these large gatherings having been announced on social media.
Asbury Park police also said last summer several social media posts were promoting a pop-up party for their beachfront during summer weekends. Police said that those organizing or hosting the unauthorized parties would be held "financially and legally responsible."
Down in Ocean City, officials said the kids are causing havoc, especially on the beach, and leaders say the problem is getting worse. The large groups of teens that descend on Ocean City’s boardwalk and beach are impossible to miss, and some officials have said it has become "the hottest nightclub for teenagers at the Jersey Shore" so far this summer.
Police said last summer that the crowds of kids were bigger with more underage drinking, more pot smoking and more fighting compared to 2021.
“It's just become a whole other set of riff-raff that we've never seen before, said business owner and City Council member Jody Levchuk.
