Simi Tentatively OKs Curfew Measure
SIMI VALLEY — Acting to gain a hold on the city’s gang problem, the Simi Valley City Council tentatively approved a curfew ordinance Monday that would forbid minors to remain on the streets past 10 p.m. without good reason.
Youths coming home from work, on errands for their parents or participating in official school functions will be exempt, but all others under age 18 could be ticketed. The curfew would run from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., if the council finalizes the proposed ordinance at an upcoming council meeting.
Councilwoman Sandi Webb called the ordinance overly restrictive, recommending that the curfew be set at midnight instead of 10 p.m.
She also criticized the ordinance’s language, which she says gives the city’s teenagers a mixed message by allowing police to use their discretion in deciding who receives curfew tickets.
“So what we are telling them is that they can basically break the law, if they are behaving themselves,†Webb said.
But Councilman Paul Miller said the city needs the ordinance to get gang members off the streets.
Under the proposed ordinance, parents could be charged for the cost of police response if their child is convicted of a curfew violation. Parents also could be fined $2,500 when their child violates curfew, fails to obey the orders of a police or probation officer, or is taken into custody for such an offense.
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