7/27/2005
Media Contact:
Steve Campbell, [317] 327-3622
Lt. Lloyd Crowe, [317] 327-3424 |
 |
City, IPD to start curfew sweeps to keep kids safe, off the streets at night
INDIANAPOLIS - The Indianapolis Police Department (IPD) will start youth curfew sweeps throughout the IPD service district in an effort to keep kids safe and off the streets at night, city officials said today.
Police and city officials said the sweeps are intended to help combat the recent homicides of young people in Indianapolis this past summer.
The Mayor’s Office and IPD officials have been meeting with neighborhood and community leaders in the past several weeks and have been designing the curfew sweeps. Police officers are allowed to give tickets under the city’s curfew ordinance, but cannot arrest violators.
The sweeps will begin this weekend.
"The violence that has been occurring this summer is unacceptable and shows that our community must do everything possible to protect kids from being victims of crime and stop them from committing crimes," said Deputy Mayor Melina Kennedy. "By aggressively enforcing the city curfew, we can give parents a tool to have greater control over their kids’ whereabouts."
The Indianapolis ordinance prohibits children younger than 18 from being in a public place without a parent or guardian unless the teen-ager is going to or from a job, school, a religious activity or other activities protected by the First Amendment after 11 p.m., Sunday through Thursday.
Fifteen-, 16- and 17-year olds are able to stay out Friday and Saturday evenings until 1 a.m. The 11 p.m. curfew still applies to children 14 and under on weekends. The Indianapolis ordinance also includes a "parental permission exception" allowing a child to stay out after curfew.
Even though the state’s curfew law was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge last year, that ruling does not invalidate the ordinance Indianapolis passed several years ago and amended earlier this year. When a state curfew law is in effect, the Indianapolis curfew ordinance is legally dormant. However, since the state law cannot be enforced, the Indianapolis ordinance springs back to life.
"The state curfew law may be in dispute, but in Indianapolis, we have a valid curfew law which is on the books, has been upheld and will be enforced," said Public Safety Director Turner.
|
