This brief is adapted from notes taken by Indy Documenters Lauren Holton and Serena Thompson, who covered the July City-County Council meeting. 📝 Read more about what happened.
The City-County Council on Aug. 11 will vote on a proposal to tighten curfew restrictions for youth under 18.
The proposal, introduced by Councilor Leroy Robinson, sets the following curfews: For youth ages 15 to 17, it would be unlawful to be in a public place after 11 p.m. on Friday or Saturday, after 9 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday and before 5 a.m. on any day.
For those under 15, they’re no longer allowed to be in a public place after 9 p.m. or before 5 a.m. on any day.
Robinson introduced this proposal shortly after a July 4 weekend shooting that killed and injured multiple youths. The measure was discussed more in depth on July 16 during the City-County Council Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee. Councilors talked about potentially enforcing the measure through fines for the children’s parents, with higher fines for repeat offenders.
However, some councilors said parents need to be held even more accountable.
“I encourage us to look at enhanced penalties for parents,” Councilor Dan Boots said. “I believe historically, we’ve whipped people with wet noodles, meaning our enforcement has been pretty weak, and people don’t feel the pain, so therefore they repeat the problem.”
Other councilors expressed interest in keeping young people off the streets after curfew through work with grassroots organizations.
“I tend to lean towards being more collaborative with the parents and looking for more activities that are intentional outside of downtown prior to this curfew, and perhaps ending at curfew time,” Councilor Keith Graves said. “And then they’ll be dispersed from those activities all across the city at curfew, and they’re not necessarily looking to go downtown because they already know downtown is off limits because there’s a curfew.”
What’s next?
The next City-County Council meeting is 7 p.m. Aug. 11 in the City-County Building’s public assembly room. For more information on committee and council meetings, visit the City-County Council website.
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