Young teens from outside of Toms River have been going door-to-door in neighborhoods earlier this month selling merchandise that two residents described as “Dollar Store junk,” in violation of the township’s “no-knock” ordinance.

Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said two organizations are using young individuals to go door to door selling items, and in light of daytime car and home burglaries, are creating concern for residents in neighborhoods such as Theresa Court.

The individuals are not connected with a local group, nor are they scouts or students selling items as fundraisers, said the police chief.

Instead, they are teens from Newark and Freehold, said the residents. Township Clerk Mark Mutter said when he became aware of the issue from a resident, he brought it to the attention of the police chief.  The salespeople had furnished what was described as a “20 times photocopied” permit to go door to door.

In one case police responded with multiple squad vehicles to a report the solicitors were attempting to find unlocked cars.

“There are two organizations causing us a lot of grief,” Mastronardy said. “We are looking to charge the organization with violating ‘no-knock.’” Mastronardy said one group is called Newark Youth, and the other is an environmental group that pays employees $16 an hour to go door to door soliciting for donations.

The no-knock ordinance establishes a registry of addresses where soliciting is not allowed. Residents fill out a short form, receive a free decal to place on their door, and it becomes a violation to knock on the door to sell products, solicit donations or leaflet.

Mutter responded that the one means to prevent solicitors from knocking on doors is to sign up for the “no-knock registry.” Otherwise, it’s not an illegal act nor can the township intervene to prevent door-to-door solicitation.

Mutter said the township website was recently updated to put the form on the home page, allowing residents to submit their form with greater ease.

“200 additional registrations have come in since redesigning our home page,” Mutter said. There’s 7,200 addresses on the registry.

“That’s about 25 percent of our town,” Mutter said.

The fines for violating the ordinance: a $1,250 maximum fine, and a permit for solicitation revoked for a year.

“The ordinance has enforcement teeth to it,” Mutter said.

Residents can contact both the police and clerk’s office to notify possible violations.

Toms River has the ordinance due to a local murder, where a woman was killed by a man soliciting door-to-door, Mutter said.

“One of the consequences of that tragedy was the ordinance being enacted,” Mutter said.

The decals still say “Dover Township” as the ordinance came into effect before the township changed to Toms River.

“We ordered 10,000, we’ve used 7,200,” Mutter said. “The police department has ordered stickers that say ‘Toms River.’”

To access the form, visit the township website here.