Township Approves Creation of 'Do Not Knock' Registry

Following a number of complaints concerning visits from door-to-door salesmen in recent years, South Brunswick will soon allow residents to prevent further knocks on their door from some of the unwanted visitors.

At Tuesday's Township Council meeting, the council approved an ordinance for the creation of a whereby residents may register with the township to have their address placed on a list of homes peddlers and solicitors are forbidden to visit. 

"This has been a concern to a lot of folks around town," said Deputy Mayor Chris Killmurray. "It's a quality of life issue and a safety issue."

The ordinance applies only to those who are seeking to sell goods and services, but does not apply to census workers, door-to-door political campaigning or religious speech, such as Jehovah's Witnesses. 

During a number of the suspects have posed as door-to-door salesman as a means of determining whether a resident is home before breaking in. Police have also responded to other suspicious incidents involving  thus the township hopes the registry will provide an added layer of protection.

The council also finalized a ban Tuesday on all door-to-door solicitors from visiting any residence after dusk.

From Jan. 1, 2012 to March 7, 2013, there were 72 complaints filed with the township concerning solicitors. Of those complaints, 24 were for solicitors visiting a home after dusk. During that same time frame there were 97 residential burglaries reported in South Brunswick, with 29 of those incidents occurring after dusk.

"We want to make sure there is no connection between these types of activities," said Township Attorney Don Sears.

Dusk is defined in the ordinance as being a half-hour after sunset.

The ordinance for the "do not knock" registry will return for a second reading on May 14 and is expected to go into effect in June.

After the ordinance goes into effect, when a person registers with the township to conduct door-to-door solicitation, they would then be given a list of addresses where they would not be allowed to visit based on those who contact the township to be placed on the list.