Transcripts

SPEAKER 1: Our target group is the group of kids that are on the fringe that really aren't bad kids, but they go out there and they're exposed to peer group pressure to be involved in activities. And what we want to do is take those kids out of this particular environment, put them back home with some positive role models or in some other structured activities that the city might be involved in, like the night moves basketball League that the city has been working with the last couple of years.

SPEAKER 2: Now, I don't profess to have talked to or heard from all the kids in the city of Saint Paul, but some of the ones that we have heard from are upset about it, they're mad about it, or they simply say, well, make any difference to me, I'm going to ignore it. Is there any way to get their cooperation?

SPEAKER 1: Well, most of the kids and the parents that we've talked to I think, understand the rationale behind it and will, in fact be abiding by it. There's always going to be a segment that just doesn't want to cooperate. But the sanctions are quite clear. If people refuse to obey the curfew, they'll be cited once and twice and usually on the second occasion, sometimes on the first, but usually on the second. They'll be brought before a juvenile court judge or a referee. And on the third occasion, the parent themselves will be brought before the judge and brought into the criminal justice system.

SPEAKER 2: Do parents respond in the past when you've picked kids up, do they respond pretty well to this? Are there parents who simply say, I don't care either?

SPEAKER 1: Well, most-- the clear majority of parents are concerned about where their kids are. When we bring kids home late at night, time and time again, they say oh, I thought they were over at so-and-so's house. I didn't know they were out in the street wandering around all night. They told me they were going over here to sleep over or to stay someplace else. So we've had really favorable response from the parents in the past.

SPEAKER 2: How serious are the police going to take this? That is to say, starting tomorrow night, police will be out in the streets. Are they going to sweep up every kid who's wandering the streets, or use this as an opportunity to break up crowds, that kind of thing?

SPEAKER 1: There will be a certain amount of officer discretion involved, and it's difficult for us to say how much time officers will have to enforce the curfew, but we've structured this program so that they can issue a citation to the child and actually deliver the child to a relative or another responsible adult that can take custody of the kid. In the past, we've always required them to bring them to headquarters, and that ties up the officer's time. It ties up people at the investigator's time.

So we're trying to make this an efficient system so the officers can enforce it. And we know that our officers will take it seriously. The determining factor will be how much time they have in between responding to normal calls. But you see, that's the philosophy. It's important to understand the philosophy that we believe that if we effectively enforce the curfew after 10:00, 11:00, or 12:00 o'clock, that the calls in general regarding disorderly activity and violence will substantially decrease as well.

SPEAKER 2: Do you think there's going to be any charges of selective enforcement?

SPEAKER 1: Any time you start some type of new enforcement, you run the risk of being accused of picking on an individual or a group. Our enforcement will be citywide, and the selective enforcement will be in response to calls and complaints made by Citizens. And we will document those calls and complaints so that if someone accuses us of enforcing one neighborhood over another, we'll have a clear trail that this is in response to community concerns and not at the Police Department's discretion.