Whittier, CA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

030(A) prohibits any person from loitering, standing or sitting in or upon any public highway, alley, sidewalk or crosswalk so as to in any manner hinder or obstruct the free passage of, or in any manner annoy, accost or molest, persons or vehicles passing along it. Subsection B exempts police officers, surveyors, street-sweepers and other public employees or agents while necessarily acting in the line of duty. The section, added by Ordinance No. 2869 Section 37 in 2006 and originally rooted in Ordinance Nos. 040, that separately bars sitting, standing or lying on public benches, monuments, planters, fire hydrants, fences and similarly designated structures once a peace officer or city employee has given notice of the violation.

Enforcement rests with the Whittier Police Department, and the obstruction standard turns on actual interference with passage or on conduct that annoys, accosts or molests others rather than mere presence on a sidewalk.