Jersey Shore cops, pols want to hold parents responsible for kids’ rowdy actions after melees

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A group of New Jersey police chiefs and Republican lawmakers says parents should be held civilly or criminally responsible for the actions of their children that create disturbances or damage in public places. They spoke at a hearing following the second consecutive year of disturbances at some Jersey Shore boardwalks over Memorial Day weekend that included the stabbing of a teenager in Ocean City. Waves of unruly young people prompted the city of Wildwood to shut down its boardwalk overnight. Numerous Jersey Shore police chiefs called for measures to hold parents responsible for their unruly children.