Dunwoody, GA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Dunwoody's loitering and prowling offense, City Code § 24-8, does not ban simply standing around; it targets presence 'at a time or in a manner not usual for law-abiding individuals' under circumstances that create a 'justifiable and reasonable alarm or immediate concern' for the safety of people or property nearby. Section 24-8(b) lists specific factors an officer may weigh in deciding whether that alarm is warranted: whether the person flees when an officer appears, refuses to identify himself, or tries to conceal himself or an object.

The ordinance builds in a due-process safeguard carried over from the article's 2008 codification: unless flight or other circumstances make it impracticable, an officer must, before making an arrest under this section, give the person a chance to dispel the alarm by identifying himself and explaining his presence and conduct. If the officer skips that step, or if it turns out at trial that the explanation given was true and would have dispelled the concern, the statute bars a conviction outright. , up to the maximum fine or jail term state law or the city Charter allows a municipal court to impose.

The section works alongside, but separately from, the disorderly-conduct offense at § 24-1, which covers loitering in connection with gaming or illegal drug or alcohol activity as its own listed act of disorderly conduct.