(A) Any person violating any provision of this chapter for which no specific penalty is prescribed shall be subject to § 10.99 of this code of ordinances.
(B) (1) Upon finding or having attention called to any minor on the streets in prima facie violation of § 133.20 of this chapter, a police officer shall normally take the minor to the appropriate holding facility, where a parent shall immediately be notified to come for such minor, whereupon he or she shall be interviewed. This is intended to permit ascertainment, under constitutional safeguards, of relevant facts, and to centralize responsibility in the personnel then on duty for accurate, effective, fair, impartial and uniform enforcement, and recording, thus making available experienced supervisory personnel, the best facilities and access to information and records. In the absence of convincing evidence such as a birth certificate, a police officer on the street shall, in the first instance, use his or her best judgment in determining age. Police procedures shall constantly be refined in the light of experience and may provide, inter alia, that the police officer may deliver to a parent thereof a minor under appropriate circumstances. For example, a minor of tender age near home whose identity may readily be ascertained or is known. In any event, such police officer shall, within 24 hours, file a written report with his or her superior. The report shall be treated for purposes of juvenile records in accordance with state statutes.
(2) When a parent, immediately called, has come to take charge of the minor, and the appropriate information has been recorded, the minor shall be released to the custody of such parent. If the parent cannot be located, or fails to take charge of the minor, then the minor shall be released to the juvenile authorities, except to the extent that, in accordance with police regulations, approved in advance by juvenile authorities, the minor may temporarily be entrusted to a relative, neighbor or other person who will, on behalf of a parent, assume the responsibility of caring for the minor pending the availability or arrival of a parent.
(3) In the case of first violation by a minor, the appropriate police officer shall cause to be personally delivered or, by certified mail, send to a parent written notice of violation with a warning that any subsequent violation shall result in full enforcement of § 133.20 of this chapter, including enforcement of parental responsibility and of applicable penalties.
(4) If, after the warning notice, pursuant to division (B)(3) above, of a first violation by a minor, a parent violates § 133.20(D) of this chapter (in connection with a second violation by the minor), this shall be treated as an offense by the parent. The penalty, upon a plea of guilty, nolo contendere or finding of guilt, shall be as provided in § 10.99 of this code of ordinances.
(Prior Code, § 5-4-1)