Tarpon ponders curfew for teens

Some city leaders want to wait for a state ruling on the constitutionality of curfews before moving ahead with any new rules.

By KATHERINE GAZELLA

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 22, 2000

TARPON SPRINGS -- The city is exploring whether it needs to shoo young people off the streets late at night.

City Manager Ellen Posivach has asked police officials to look into a youth curfew, but no specifics have been drawn up. She was not available for comment.

Tarpon Springs police Capt. Bob Kochen is looking at policies in other cities. He also will ask patrol officers if many kids are causing problems late at night.

"First of all, we have to find out if there's a need," Kochen said. "If we identify a need, and if it's something the commission wants to adopt, we could probably have it on its way within three months."

The St. Petersburg City Council voted Thursday, after months of debate, not to implement a curfew.

During that debate, police officers from Pinellas Park and Largo, which have curfews, told council members that the ordinance has helped the cities curb juvenile crime and alert parents to children teetering on the edge of trouble.

"What I can tell you is when you come to Pinellas Park after 11, it's a ghost town," said Tracey Schofield, a Pinellas Park police officer. "I will tell you that the fringe kids, the ones needing guidance, are off the streets."

But Thursday, more than 35 St. Petersburg residents spoke against the proposal, arguing that it would trample on constitutional rights and would lead to the punishment of law-abiding kids.

If Tarpon Springs officials decide to pursue a curfew, they also may face resistance within the city.

City Commissioner David Archie said he would have to be convinced that the city would benefit from a curfew.

"I really have not seen the need for it in Tarpon," he said. "Someone will really have to show me that we have a need to try to regulate when teens should be in."

Police Chief Mark LeCouris said he wouldn't want the city to enact a curfew until the state Supreme Court makes a decision about the constitutionality of Pinellas Park's curfew.

"The model is the Pinellas Park case," he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the constitutionality of the Pinellas Park ordinance. Attorneys argued that the law illegally infringes on parental rights.

A circuit judge agreed and struck down the Pinellas Park curfew in September 1998, but an appellate court overturned that ruling in May. The ACLU appealed to the Florida Supreme Court, where the case is pending.

LeCouris said Tarpon Springs can wait awhile before making its decision.

If there were an immediate need for a curfew -- a rash of late-night crime committed by young people, for instance -- LeCouris might be more inclined to support an ordinance before the Pinellas Park case is resolved, he said.

"But I don't think we have that severe of a problem with them after hours," he said. "You've got to look at your community. If there's not a great juvenile crime problem, you have to look at why you need (a curfew)."

Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said LeCouris is wise to want a decision in the Pinellas Park case before moving forward.

"What is the point of going through all the motions when the court may soon rule on the constitutionality?" he said. "The court is going to tell city commissions around the state whether it's permissible to override the wishes of parents, or not."

The curfew in Pinellas Park forbids anyone younger than 18 from being in a public place or business from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

First-time violators receive a written warning, and juveniles and their parents can be fined up to $500, imprisoned for up to six months or both for subsequent violations.

Curfews require police officers to take time away from their other duties, LeCouris said. Officers have to pick up children and take them to the station until their parents or guardians pick them up. During that time, he said, officers are not fighting crime.

"You're tied up two or three hours," he said.

In St. Petersburg, the Police Department officially took a position of neutrality. But the department produced research on curfews in other cities, which showed ineffectiveness in some places and raised the issue of fairness.

In Fresno and Santa Clara counties in California, the research showed, Latino youths were five times more likely and African-American youngsters were three times more likely to be arrested for curfew violations.

In Tarpon Springs, some of the people who would be affected by a curfew said they don't like the idea.

Leah Jacobs and Artemis Klonaris, honor roll students at Tarpon Springs High School, looked stricken at the mention of the word curfew.

"I totally disagree with that," said Klonaris, 16.

The two students said they occasionally are out later than 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on weekends. "Hanging out with friends, watching movies," Klonaris said.

They are not doing anything wrong when they're out late, the teens said, and they would not want to be punished just because they aren't at home. Besides, said Jacobs, 16, a curfew probably wouldn't do much good and may cause another problem.

"Kids would rebel," she said.

- Staff writer Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or gazella@sptimes.com.

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