‘You got to get the parents involved’

Some New Jersey moms and dads are backing a bold new law that could put them behind bars for their kids’ crimes — with many complaining that parents just don’t take their job seriously these days.

“It’s changed now. My parents would have destroyed me if I would have been brought home by the cops. I would have told the cops, ‘Just take me,’” said 51-year-old New Jersey father of four, Mark Barker.

“Now you got kids running the parents. The kids are in charge. Or, you got kids raising kids and they don’t care,” he added. “I agree with that new law because these parents are just letting their kids go out and putting the responsibility on someone else.”

The law, passed in Gloucester Township under the title “Minors and Parent Responsibility,” says that parents could be fined $2,000 or spend 90 days in jail if their kids are repeatedly convicted of various crimes — with 28 qualifying offenses ranging from “destruction of playground equipment” and “immorality,” to loitering, assault and drug dealing.

It was passed on July 28 in response to the disastrous June 2024 Gloucester Township Day festival, where a mob of 500 minors flooded the grounds and sparked brawls — then fled to a nearby shopping center and attempted to destroy a grocery store. Eleven people — including nine teens — were arrested, while three police officers were injured.

“I was there that night. I’ve been a resident here for 40 years and attended Gloucester Township Day since I was a kid, and it was never like this,” said Gloucester Police Department Captain Timothy Kohlmyer. “It was a real eye-opener. As long as I’ve lived here, we’ve never seen anything like that before.”

The annual shindig — a local pastime — is a fundraiser for college scholarships.

Juvenile arrests have spiked in Gloucester Township since the pandemic — nearly doubling from 68 in 2020 to 133 in 2023, police department figures show. Arrests declined to 98 in 2024, but remained elevated from before the pandemic.

Most of the troublemakers appeared to be from out of town and were dumped at the festival without parental supervision, Kohlmyer added. The festival was such a fiasco that Gloucester, which sits just outside Philadelphia, decided to cancel it this year as similar incidents of teenage mobs continued across the state.

Many parents have had enough — and hope the new law will shock some into grabbing control of their kids.

“They ruined it for everybody,” Katie Crawford, a 44-year-old Gloucester Township mother, said referring to the misbehaving youngsters at last year’s Gloucester Township Day.

“We’re losing all the carnivals, and they’re taking away kids’ rights to wear backpacks on the boardwalk in Wildwood.”

“If it scares parents into parenting their kids, then I’m all for it,” she said of the ordinance.

A father who requested not to be named thinks forcing accountability from parents is a logical next step if they aren’t holding their own kids accountable.

“I think it’s good. It’s been a problem because parents aren’t punishing the kid who’s causing the problem, so you’re going to have to move up the chain,” the dad said. “The kid’s got to be held accountable or you’re just going to have bedlam.”

“The incident at the town event, I was there, and if I have my 3-year-old with me I’m going to take the necessary steps to keep her safe. At the end of the day, all the US parents just want our kids to feel safe,” he added. “You got to move further up the chain. You got to get the parents involved.”

Gloucester Township Police Department previously told 6 ABC that punishments for parents would be “handled on a case-by-case basis” and take into account “the specific situation and the totality of circumstances.”

“Our ordinance was actually sampled from other towns,” Police Chief David Harkins told NJ.com, explaining that parents would receive warnings before punishments were on the table. “We’re not necessarily the first, but we’re probably the first bigger town to adopt it.”

But some New Jersey parent advocacy groups have called the law — which passed by a unanimous town council vote — a “very dangerous precedent” for parental rights in the state.

“Every family dynamic is different. Every Situation is different,” said Alex Bougher, chair of Bergen County Moms for Liberty chapter. “I think outrage is probably the biggest thing that we’re feeling.”