Wilmington City Council: Earlier youth curfew could curb violence

Christina Jedra | The News Journal

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In an effort to curb Wilmington's youth violence, minors could be required to stay out of public spaces after 8 p.m. this summer.

City Council President Hanifa Shabazz and Councilman Vash Turner introduced an ordinance on Thursday that would impose earlier curfews for youth: a 9 p.m. curfew for all minors in fall, winter and spring and an 8 p.m. curfew for the summer, between May 31 and Sept. 1.

Young people can currently stay out until 10 p.m., or 9 p.m. if they are under age 13. The curfews lift at 6 a.m.

The ordinance, if passed, also would strike language in the city code that allows for later curfews on weekends — a midnight curfew on Fridays and Saturdays for older youth and a 10 p.m. weekend curfew for those under 13.

"In recent years, the city has experienced unacceptable levels of violence and delinquency, with many incidents involving minors," the ordinance states. "City Council seeks to amend the City Code to adjust the hours of the city’s curfew in the interest of curbing violence and delinquency."

The proposal comes at a time of heightened violence in the city. There have been 93 shooting victims, 20 of them killed since the beginning of this year, according to data compiled by The News Journal.

Shabazz said the current curfew is "not strongly enforced." Last year, 21 minors were arrested for curfew violations, according to the Police Department. Shabazz hopes increased enforcement and the earlier hours will keep victims out of harm's way.

"It definitely will lower the number of innocent bystander shootings," she said.

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Some exceptions to the curfew would be made, including for youngsters participating in the city's Safe Haven program, which will provide programming at 11 locations throughout the city. That's an intentional incentive to bring kids to those locations, Shabazz said.

"We thought the curfew would assist in ensuring the children are off the streets," she said.

The ordinance was referred to the Education, Youth and Families Committee. That group meets next on June 14 at 5 p.m. in the City Council committee room at the Louis L. Redding City/County Building.

The Mayor's Office said it appreciates the intent of the ordinance, but the details, like where minors violating the curfew will be taken, aren't clear.

"(We) have to be careful not to impose a law that, in effect, makes police officers the guardians or caregivers of curfew violators instead of keeping police on the street where they belong to prevent and stop crime," said John Rago, Mayor Mike Purzycki's deputy chief of staff for policy and communications, in a statement.

Rago pointed to the use of a "curfew center" in 2011. At that time, guardians of children arrested after hours would pick their child up at the Walnut Street YMCA, where there would be services available related to keeping youth out of the criminal justice system.

The program was set up in part because the Police Department was "really not enforcing" the curfew law, a captain told The News Journal at the time. It was funded by a one-time $140,000 commitment by the state Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families.

"While a curfew extension may seem appealing, unless a curfew center is established where violators can stay, be supervised and counseled until they can return home or are chaperoned home by their parents, then we will severely reduce existing police resources needed to help keep the peace," Rago said. "We’ll work with council on this proposal so we get all the pieces in place for an effective program.”

Shabazz said she doesn't want curfew violators driven to police stations, but she couldn't say yet where they might go.

"That’s what we’re working out with the administration, but we wanted to get the conversation on the table," she said.

The council president hopes that the curfew itself encourages families to arrange for their children be under adult supervision.

"Hopefully, we can empower and educate the parents on this process, and there will be very few (violations)," she said.

Wilmington's current incarnation of its curfew law dates back to 1994, according to News Journal archives. But conversations about curfews in the city go back decades. A News Journal article from November 15, 1919, reported on a "curfew law movement" and a proposal to ring a bell at 8:45 p.m. to warn children to start heading home.

A curfew is not guaranteed to reduce crime. Of the eight juveniles wounded by gunfire in Wilmington so far this year, half of them were shot before 8 p.m., a review of shooting data shows.

In addition to the nighttime curfew already on the books, Wilmington also has a daytime curfew.

It prohibits children ages 5 to 16 from remaining in public places during weekdays between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. unless they are accompanied by a parent, pursuing an errand directed by a guardian or engaged in employment during those hours.

The daytime curfew does not apply "when a minor is returning home by way of a direct route from any activity that is sponsored by an educational, religious or nonprofit organization when such returning is within 60 minutes following the termination of the activity."

The city code allows for penalties of several hundred dollars issued to minors, parents and business owners related to curfew violations.

​​​​​​Reporter Esteban Parra contributed to this story. Contact Christina Jedra at cjedra@delawareonline.com, (302) 324-2837 or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.