By Mary Spicer
06/29/08
June 28, 2008 07:39 pm
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When Vernon Township resident Cindy Allen went to a recent Meadville City Council study session, she was seeking help. She’s owner of Hair Haven Salon, which opened in January at the corner of Water and North streets, and her shop’s been vandalized twice recently — at night.
She wasn’t happy when the front window was shot out, she explained, but when she was told that two young girls were responsible for the second incident — stealing her sign and pulling out all the flowers planted in front of the shop — she knew she had to take action.
“I’m a grandmother,” she said Friday. “There were eyewitnesses. They were two little
girls, ages maybe 7 and 9. It just breaks my heart to think that they’re out that late.”
When Allen asked council to consider implementing a curfew, the first thing she found out is that the city already has one — but it isn’t widely enforced.
Council members were willing to consider Allen’s request. However, because all five sections of the current ordinance date back to either 1913 or 1938, the city’s attorney was asked to prepare a draft version of a new, updated ordinance.
The current curfew
According to the city’s current one-page curfew ordinance, no minor under the age of 16 is allowed on the city’s streets, alleys and public places between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless accompanied by an adult with legal custody rights or carrying a written statement bearing the current date and signed by a parent, guardian or custodian declaring that the minor is on an emergency errand. The statement must describe the nature of the errand.
In addition, all police are authorized and directed “to apprehend on view all minors under 16 years of age” violating the ordinance. The fire alarm at Meadville Central Fire Station is to be tolled twice at 9:15 each night as a warning to the public that the time limit is approaching. The ordinance (in one of the sections that’s been in effect since 1913) also stipulates that parents, guardians or custodians violating the ordinance shall be fined $1 plus costs for the first offense; $2 plus costs for a second offense; and $5 plus costs for third and subsequent offenses, unless a claim is made that the minor is an incorrigible child.
According to Meadville Police Department Assistant Chief Tom Liscinski, the current ordinance is simply not being enforced. “We don’t receive a lot of calls on that,” he said Friday. “If we happen to come across kids who are out by themselves, we will inquire where they’re going and why they’re out. If need be, parents will be contacted.” However, he added, “You need to have a little bit of a probable cause. If they’re just walking down the street, we will not approach them.”
In the case of very young kids on the street late at night, however, officers do pick them up, take them to the station and try to find out why they’re out at that hour. If the police can’t contact the caretaker, Children and Youth Services will be called. “During just the past week,” he added, “we’ve had three calls about unattended children.”
A proposed
new curfew
The new, six-page curfew ordinance that council will be considering would apply to all minors under the age of 18 between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday during the school year and midnight to 6 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and all nights during summer vacation.
Under the proposed new ordinance, no parent shall knowingly permit any minor to remain in any public place or establishment beyond the allowed hours unless the minor is engaged in a one of a specific list of permitted activities.
Fines would range from a written warning for the first offense to $300 to $500 for the sixth and subsequent offenses. After the fifth offense, parents are subject to imprisonment for up to 90 days and minors to referral to the juvenile court system.
According to Liscinski, that just isn’t enforceable. “We would not be able to pick up every person under the age of 18 who was on the street after 10 p.m.,” he said. “It would be extremely time-consuming and would deplete manpower from the streets who are needed for more urgent or necessary activities.”
Allen disagrees. “If they want to make it 18, I think that’s good,” she said. However, she quickly added, “It should be different for little kids. There’s no way they should be out on the streets at midnight.” For children 12 and under, “9 p.m. would be appropriate,” she said. “If parents aren’t going to step up to the plate and make sure their children are safe inside, someone else has to step up to the plate.”
Council members are tentatively scheduled to begin their discussion of curfew options on July 16. The study session, which is open to the public, will begin at 4 p.m. in the City Building on Water Street.
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