In conclusion, while it is true that a police response is not warranted to address the everyday misconduct perpetrated by juveniles and other societal issues, a response to the conduct engaged in by the youth in this case was necessary and should have taken place. Accordingly, the actions of the Perth Amboy Police Department were justified under the circumstances presented. The officers would have been in dereliction of their duties if they had acted otherwise.
October 29, 2021
PERTH AMBOY, NJ (MIDDLESEX)–As part of any county prosecutor’s supervisory authority over all law
enforcement activity in the county, he or she from time to time is called on to review the actions of local law enforcement officials and the exercise of their duties. In this case, the Governor and the Office of the Attorney General requested that Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone review the conduct of the Perth Amboy Police Department as it related to the arrest of one youth and the seizure of bicycles resulting from community complaints that the juveniles were riding bicycles in an unsafe manner within the City of Perth Amboy on April 17, 2021.
In response, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office thoroughly reviewed all information relating to this incident, including video footage, community complaints, police reports and officer interviews. The Prosecutor concludes the members of the Perth Amboy Police Department acted within their lawful authority by stopping the youths on bicycles because they were engaging in dangerous conduct that created a risk of injury to motorists, pedestrians, and the youths themselves. The community caretaking role of the police extends to protecting the welfare of children in the community. Indeed, that responsibility is a reflection of the State’s general parens patriae duty to safeguard children from harm. In this case, members of the Perth Amboy law enforcement community were duty-bound to act immediately to prevent harm to the youths involved as well as members of the community. There is no indication or suggestion that the incident was racially motivated or that State law or local ordinances were selectively enforced in a discriminatory fashion. Moreover, there is no indication or suggestion the police used excessive force in addressing the situation. The officers’ actions were, at all times, within their lawful authority, comported with the enforcement of local ordinances, and in compliance with established police procedures.
Moreover, the investigation did not reveal any evidence that any of the youths involved were unaware of the local ordinance at issue. In fact, the videos reviewed depicted a recurring pattern of reckless behavior on bicycles Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office 25 Kirkpatrick Street, 3rd Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901 (732) 745-3300 News Release Date: October 29, 2021
and evasive interaction with law enforcement attempting to enforce the law. Furthermore, the law enforcement officers involved used great restraint by not issuing summonses for violations of state law and/or any local ordinance on the day in question.
Since June 2020, members of the Perth Amboy Police Department had been dispatched to thirty-three calls for service directed at groups of juveniles riding their bicycles in an unsafe manner on the city streets. The first of these calls came in on June 6, 2020, and the most recent call was on April 20, 2021. On fourteen occasions when officers responded, the group of riders could not be located and were gone upon arrival. In another thirteen incidents, the officers located a group of bicyclists and appropriately warned them. The other six incidents resulted in escalated police action in response to the bicyclists’ conduct.
On April 17, 2021, yet another call was received at approximately 2:25 P.M. Upon responding to the call, a police officer employed by the City of Perth Amboy took a juvenile into custody for a petty disorderly persons offense after being warned by officers to discontinue the unsafe operation of their bicycles and disregarded those previous warnings. The officers had been dispatched to the area after a woman called to report “a whole gang of boys riding bicycles by the hospital and they’re taking up the whole street.” She continued to state “there must be fifty of them and they’re riding bicycles in the middle of the street and they’re backing up all of New Brunswick Ave., a business thoroughfare. They’re not letting cars pass.” Pursuant to the interviews conducted, it was determined the officers had previously dealt with the same group of juveniles earlier in the day. Previously, officers ultimately came upon the group of about thirty youths on their bicycles in the area of Pulaski and State Streets. Those officers warned the group about their unsafe conduct and that they were blocking both lanes of traffic on State Street, from
outer State Street all the way to Hall Avenue. Officers were able to make contact with the same group of riders, right before the entrance to Harbortown Complex and they were advised that they needed to stop blocking traffic and ride safely on the street.