Margate police ticketed two parents this summer for their teen’s curfew violations

After issuing a widely-heard warning to parents that they would be held accountable for their teenage children loitering and running amok after curfew in the Shore town, Margate police said they issued just two tickets for parental responsibility this summer.

Chief Matthew Hankinson said the social media campaign and warnings were highly visible, and the town added more police officers and a big sign outside the Wawa (dubbed “Club Wa” for its large crowds of teens during busy summer weekends) warning of the 10 p.m. curfew.

The parental responsibility ordinance carries a possible punishment of a $1,000 fine and 90 days of community service. The two parents who were ticketed were women, one from Margate, the other from Woodbine. The case involving the Margate parent has a Sept. 23 hearing. No information was available about the other case.

“It did deter a lot of parents from letting their kids wander out, which was our goal,” Hankinson said. “It was a wake up call for parents to maybe have more of an idea to know where their kids were going. That did really work out well.”

» READ MORE: Margate to start ticketing parents for teens behavior at the Jersey Shore

After the chaotic Memorial Day Weekend, Hankinson said the problems with teens pretty much dissipated.

“We did not have a lingering issue with the kids,” he said. He said police would repeat the strategy next summer with heavy enforcement.

In the meantime, police have been busy with ticketing dozens of people outside the new Memories nightclub, formerly owned by Jerry Blavat, where public urination has become a repeated complaint. In general, the bay front bar scene has become very popular again in Margate, Hankinson said. Not since Maloney’s closed in 2005 has there been this type of problem, he said.

“I grew up back in the days when Margate was called the Barbary Coast,” he noted.