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PARENTS now face major consequences for their children’s actions, whether they are aware of them or not.
One state is holding parents accountable for any laws their children, who are under the age of 18, break.
Some parents will face fines or jail time if their children break any laws, ranging from drunkenness to felonies.
The Gloucester Township Council in New Jersey has declared that parents who do not stop their children from engaging in criminal activities could face up to 90 days in jail or incur fines amounting to $2,000.
The council has identified 28 crimes that could result in parents being fined or jailed.
Some of these crimes include felonies, disorderly conduct, associating with thieves, gambling, and idly roaming the streets, among others.
Harsher penalties will be assigned to parents of children who are repeat offenders.
OUT OF CONTROL
The new consequences come one year after a massive brawl erupted at a community drone show in South Jersey.
The crowd of the show grew to 500 people, with kids and young adults making up the majority of the viewers, NJ.com reported.
Multiple fights broke out throughout the show, leading to the arrest of eleven people.
Of the eleven arrests, nine involved teenagers.
The ages of the arrested teens were 13-17, with seven of the arrestees being boys and three being girls.
All of the teens arrested were charged with disorderly conduct and then released to their homes.
During the fights, three police officers were injured and sustained minor injuries.
“The lawlessness of groups of unsupervised juveniles and young people acting with total disregard for others ruined a great family-oriented event, which has been held to raise funds for the Gloucester Township Scholarship Committee for over 40 years,” stated Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins at the time.
“This type of lawlessness and violent riotous behavior will not be tolerated, and will not define the great community of Gloucester Township.”
Crimes parents are held responsible for
- A felony, high misdemeanor, misdemeanor, or other offense
- Violation of any penal law or municipal ordinance
- Any act or offense for which he or she could be prosecuted in the method partaking of the nature of a criminal action or proceeding
- Being a disorderly person
- Knowingly associating with thieves or vicious or immoral people
- Growing up in idleness or delinquency
- Knowingly visiting gambling places, or patronizing other places or establishments, his or her admission to which constitutes a violation of law
- A felony, high misdemeanor, misdemeanor, or other offense
- Violation of any penal law or municipal ordinance
- Any act or offense for which he or she could be prosecuted in the method partaking of the nature of a criminal action or proceeding
- Being a disorderly person
- Knowingly associating with thieves or vicious or immoral people
- Growing up in idleness or delinquency
- Knowingly visiting gambling places, or patronizing other places or establishments, his or her admission to which constitutes a violation of law
- Loitering in groups of three or more on any public streets, highways, or alleys
- Loitering or destruction or defacing of public property owned by the governments of the township, county, or state
- Destruction of playground equipment and public parks
- Consumption of alcoholic beverages on a public street
- Lack of supervision by a parent, legal guardian or other person having the care or custody of a minor child under the age of eighteen. A “person” is defined to include parents, guardians, or persons having custody or control of minor children
The fighting first began at 8:40 pm, as officers say the young adults ran “recklessly” through the crowd of families and children.
A few weeks earlier, during Memorial Day weekend in 2024, teenagers broke out into a fight in Cape May, leading to a 15-year-old being stabbed.
“Out of control juveniles with no accountability is not limited to the Jersey shore,’’ the New Jersey PBA statement said.
“Officers were injured, and the event was canceled yesterday. Things must change.’’
Harkins said he’s glad the fights didn’t lead to larger injuries.
“I was proud to serve with all of these officers who put their safety on the line to bring this difficult situation under control,” Harkins said.
“I am thankful that more injuries were not sustained by officers, the families attending the event, and even those involved in this disorderly conduct.”
