A proposed 6 p.m. curfew for unsupervised minors around Fountain Square is now on hold. Instead, Cincinnati City Council will consider a 9 p.m. curfew along Short Vine in Corryville.
The current citywide curfew is 11 p.m. After that, anyone under age 18 is not allowed to be out without adult supervision. Over the summer, Council created a special curfew district Downtown and in parts of Over-the-Rhine, with an earlier curfew of 9 p.m.
Then one evening a few weeks ago, a double shooting right on Fountain Square happened at about 8 p.m. — just yards away from multiple uniformed police officers. In response to that and other incidents, Mayor Aftab Pureval called for a 6 o’clock curfew around Fountain Square. At the time, he said Council should vote on the proposal immediately.
Now, he tells WVXU, the city has a different priority.
"The Fountain Square District curfew is on pause specifically so we can focus and prioritize on the Short Vine curfew district," Pureval said.
An ordinance up for consideration at City Hall this week would establish a special curfew district along Short Vine near the University of Cincinnati. It would have the same rules as the Downtown curfew: no unsupervised minors after 9 p.m.
Pureval says the area has been challenging lately, including a shooting on Halloween.
"We've got to continue to intentionally intervene in order to both maintain safety for our youth, but also to interrupt specifically youth violence," Pureval said. "That doesn't mean that we won't, ultimately, at some point, introduce a Fountain Square curfew that is earlier than what is currently there."
Council member Mark Jeffreys says he’s not convinced a Short Vine curfew is the right move.
"I think the first step is making sure we're enforcing the curfew that we do have now. Because part of the challenge is that, yes, we have it Downtown and Over-the-Rhine, and these kids just go up north, and we don't want a whack-a-mole situation," Jeffreys said. "Because what we can't have is, OK, we have a tighter one in Short Vine and then kids just go to the other side of Clifton ... or they go to Northside."
The Short Vine curfew will be in Council’s Public Safety and Governance Committee Wednesday morning. The Committee also will continue discussion on regulations that ban food trucks in Over-the-Rhine after 11 p.m. on weekends.
What happens if a teen violates curfew?
Young people violating curfew will first be approached by non-police city staff, encouraging youth to go home. If that fails, a police officer would step in.
CPD officers also are trained to ask for compliance, then demand compliance if necessary. Teens who don't comply could be detained and transported to a safe location: their home; a curfew center at Seven Hills Neighborhood House in the West End; or (if the person is being charged with a crime or has an outstanding warrant) the Hamilton County Youth Detention Center.
Staff at Seven Hills make further attempts to contact a parent or guardian and provide transportation home. If an adult cannot be reached, the teen could be taken to Lighthouse Youth and Family Services' Mecum House for voluntary overnight care.
The Seven Hills curfew center and Lighthouse is staffed on Friday and Saturday nights. On other nights, officers still try to locate a parent or guardian.
A minor who violates curfew could be "guilty of a curfew violation" while their parent, guardian, or any other adult responsible for that minor could be charged with a minor misdemeanor. A curfew violation is what's known as a status offense; that means a minor cannot be incarcerated on a curfew violation alone.
Since the curfew enforcement began in mid-August through Oct. 19, only four juveniles have been taken to the Seven Hills curfew center: three on Sep. 13, and one on Sep. 27. None were taken to Mecum House.
Each contract, with Seven Hills and Lighthouse, is for 12 months for services rendered two days a week (Friday and Saturday night), and are not to exceed:
- $182,000 for Seven Hills
- $192,772 for Lighthouse
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