Montebello, CA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 9.18.010 targets loitering tied specifically to criminal street gang activity rather than loitering in general. It applies to any person who is a member of a criminal street gang as defined in California Penal Code Section 186.22(f), or who is in the company of or acting in concert with such a member, and prohibits loitering or idling in a public place under two circumstances: with the intent to publicize the gang's dominance over territory in order to intimidate nonmembers from entering, remaining in, or using the area, or with the intent to conceal ongoing commerce in illegal drugs or other unlawful activity.

The chapter's definition of public place, in subsection B, sweeps in the public way and any location open to the public whether publicly or privately owned, listing streets, sidewalks, alleys, parks, playgrounds, and common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, and shops open to the public, and it goes further than most public-place definitions by expressly including the front yard, driveway, and walkway of any private residence, business, or apartment house. Section 9.18.020 clarifies that the chapter does not limit a law enforcement officer's existing power to investigate, detain, or arrest independent of this ordinance, meaning the Montebello Police Department can rely on other Penal Code authority alongside this local provision.

The chapter, adopted by Ordinance 2226 in 2001, gives officers a targeted tool for gang-territory marking and street-level drug activity distinct from the city's separate daytime-loitering-by-minors and curfew provisions in Chapter 9.16.