By Ashley McLeod
Dec 11, 2015, 16:18
COLONIAL HEIGHTS — Teenagers in the city will soon have to turn in an hour earlier than before.
Colonial Heights City Council voted on Tuesday, Dec. 8, to change the current curfew from midnight to 11 p.m.
Chief of Police Col. Jeff Faries brought the curfew change to City Council’s attention at the Oct. 13 meeting. About six months prior to the October meeting, Faries had discussed the curfew change with City Manager Thomas Mattis. The issue was not brought up at that time because it seemed that the problems with the current time had been resolved.
Recently those problems have returned.
The curfew change is a result of several complaints from businesses and restaurants around the area of South Park Mall. Teenagers would cloud parking lots and cause disturbances.
“It is a growing problem with mall management in attempting to make sure that the general public, and all those who want to see a movie or go to a restaurant or shop, can do so without a commotion or without confrontation,’ said Councilman John Wood.
In a letter to council from Faries, he explains that officers are sent to crowds at the mall area on a weekly basis, taking them away from other duties around the city.
Councilwoman Diane Yates brought up another problem that may be solved by the ordinance change. Faries also said when approached by officers, many of the teenagers have exhibited negative behavior towards the officers, which many times has resulted in arrests for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and curfew violations.
“It should be noted that our enforcement efforts are only initiated after several warnings are given, and only if there has been no positive response from the subjects,” said Faries.
“I feel that if we lowered our curfew, not only would we be in line with all of the surrounding jurisdictions, but also it would provide a much safer environment for our juveniles,” Faries said in the letter.
Currently, Colonial Heights is the only locality with a curfew of midnight. Surrounding areas curfews are 11 p.m.
“I think when you have all the neighboring localities that have the earlier curfew, it appears to me that what happens … is that issues start in other localities, but they can’t be finished there so they come to us, because we have a later curfew,” said Yates. “Then our police department ends up handling issues of individuals that don’t live here because they have started somewhere else.”
But not all council members were in favor of the change.
Councilwoman Betsy Luck saw the curfew change as a power grab, taking away from a parent’s job to raise their children.
“To me, it is excessive control, it is the government stepping in and taking place of parents. It’s taking away the rights and responsibilities of parents,” said Luck.
Luck also said that treating an 18-year-old the same as a 13-year-old bothered her and that maybe the council should think of staggering curfew times by age.
Luck spoke about raising her own children in Colonial Heights, and how their number one complaint was that there was nothing to do in the city. Now that there is the movie theater, if these teenagers are not allowed to see movies because they end after curfew,
Luck questioned what else they would do from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
One Colonial Heights parents agreed with Luck. Rick Ridpath has two teenage daughters who are sometimes out late following school events, with his permission.
“As a parent, I’ve allowed them to go out. So I don’t want that right as a parent to be taken away,” said Ridpath.
Ridpath said his daughters sometimes go to Denny’s late at night, which he allows them to do. He said sometimes they are out until 2 a.m. following some school events.
“What might look like to an officer is a rowdy crowd, is really just a lot of excited teenagers being, or enjoying the end of a high school event,” said Ridpath.
Hayden Whitley, a student in Colonial Heights, spoke to the council on behalf of himself and some of his classmates at the meeting, opposing the ordinance change.
“Certain services become available, or certain services will deny service if it is affected by the curfew,” said Whitley. “For example, the movie theater will not sell you a movie ticket, they will not sell it to a minor if the movie ends past curfew. So if the curfew is changed to 11:00, the movie starts at 9:00 or 8:30, after the 20 minutes of previews, it will end past the curfew. So if I wanted to see a movie such as ‘Inside Out’, which is rated PG, or a movie of the nature, I would be restricted and I would have to see it at a time that I maybe can’t see it.”
Councilman Kenneth Frenier brought this subject up to mall management prior to the meeting.
“I had the opportunity today to talk to someone from the mall management, and they were talking about this very issue. I think they’re also willing to possibly adjust the movie times so people can come in and see movies without going over the curfew,” said Frenier.
Management at South Park Mall also wrote to the city council. In their letter, they supported the ordinance change.
The curfew does have a few exceptions added to it. A minor is excused from the curfew if they are driving home from work or another activity, and as long as they have their parents’ permission. The curfew is not meant as a punishment for teens, but as a way to clear up issues that have been occurring.
“To me, it is the least burdensome method of alleviating a problem which would otherwise require more punitive action from the police, which then is going to perhaps create a reaction from parents or participants,” said Wood.
“This is a matter that is only used by our police force in situations when there is other danger or other mischief. It is not generally the procedure followed by the police to rouse any individual simply because of a timeframe.”
In the vote to change the ordinance, all council members except Betsy Luck and John Piotrowski voted in favor of changing the curfew time to be from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
According to Mattis and Faries, outreach will be made to schools in the city, as well as surrounding localities, in order to inform and educate students, as well as parents, on the change.
