SECAUCUS -- A group of teens on vacation from France are getting a first-hand lesson on the American legal system.

Ten kids, all between 13 and 17 years, have been charged with burglarizing 12 vehicles in Secaucus early Friday morning, town police said. And they may have broken into more, but they were caught while roaming the same area of town the following morning, Secaucus police Capt. Dennis Miller said.

The teens, whose passports have been taken away, are scheduled to appear in court today. They had been staying with adult guardians at the Red Roof Inn on Meadowlands Parkway as part of a summer camp retreat, police said.

Police responded to Second Street Friday morning after getting reports of numerous vehicle burglaries that occurred after 4 a.m., Miller said. Police obtained surveillance footage that captured the group committing the burglaries.

At 3 a.m. Saturday, Police Officer Michael Bronowich was patrolling in the area of Pandolfi and Golden avenues when he saw a large group of juveniles walking between cars utilizing flashlights, Miller said. Bronowich found that several of the kids in the group fit the description from the surveillance footage and nine juveniles were detained.

Police later went to the motel and took a 15-year-old girl into custody for her role in the burglaries, said Miller, who noted that some of the juveniles were wearing the same clothing they had on the night before while committing the burglaries.

All 10 juveniles were charged with 12 counts of burglary and 12 counts of conspiracy to commit burglary. Three of the teens were additionally charged with three counts of theft and one teen was additionally charged with receiving stolen property. The teens were ordered to be released to their guardians.

Police investigating recovered some of the items stolen, Miller said.

All of the vehicles that were burglarized had been left unlocked, Miller said, adding that Police Chief Kevin Flaherty is urging residents to lock their vehicles to reduce the ability to commit this "crime of opportunity."

Anyone with any additional information regarding the vehicle burglaries is asked to contact the Secaucus Police Detective Division at (201)330-2052 or detectivedivision@secaucus.net.