NEW ORLEANS — Monday night marks the first night of the strict curfew enforcement in New Orleans. Starting now, all children under the age of 17 must be home at night.
The curfew has been in place for years, but has not really been enforced in recent memory. With a recent spike in juvenile crime, however, the NOPD and city leaders are trying to send a strong message.
"Our officers will continue to do what we've been swarn to do, and what we have been doing all along, and that is to make New Orleans stronger and safer. We will not let up,” said NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson.
If police officers find children between the ages 10 and 17 out after curfew and do not believe he or she has committed any other crimes, the child will be brought to the Covenant House on N. Rampart Street if police can't reach a parent first.
If officers have reason to believe the child has committed a crime, however, they can be arrested.
The curfew starts at 9 p.m. on Monday - Thursday. On the weekends, Friday to Sunday, the curfew starts at 11 p.m. In the French Quarter, the curfew goes into effect at 8 p.m. every night.
If a child is picked up three times in a calendar year, a court summons will be issued and parents or guardians could face fines.
Jim Kelly, Executive Director at Covenant House, has been helping children in New Orleans since the late 1980s.
While Kelly said he feels the shelter is a prevention center, not a curfew center, he also said it will be a place for children out in the wrong situation to come safely, without fear of punishment.
“These are good kids. They are out in the wrong place. They don't know what they are doing, and they got a place to come,” Kelly said.
When city official’s asked for the non-profit's help in acting as a drop-off location for kids who violate curfew this summer, Kelly would not say no.
"They want to hop on the computer, that's fine, they want to watch TV, that's fine,” Kelly said. “If it gets closer to 11 or 12 o'clock at night, we've got mattresses for them to take a nap on until mom gets there."
While Kelly and the volunteers at Covenant House are prepared, Aaron Rizzio with the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights remains skeptical the summer curfew will create positive results.
"That's troubling because that's devoting our precious police resources to an activity that research shows does not actually decrease crime,” Rizzio said.
The city’s Youth Study Center has 48 beds, according to the Cantrell administration. 12 of those are reserved for juveniles being tried as adults.
Currently, 14 juveniles are being housed at Orleans Justice Center in a tier designated for young people. Rizzio worries about overcrowding, something that Mayor LaToya Cantrell said is something she is watching closely.
"If we have too many we have to work towards a release initiative, with the juvenile court as well as with the sheriff's office, so that's a transfer policy that we will have to enforce as well,” Cantrell said.
Cantrell called for “accountability across the board” in moving juvenile offenders being tried as adults more quickly.
The mayor’s plan is not solely based on enforcement.
There are several social programs, including a summer jobs program for kids, and the administration is putting an emphasis on the New Orleans Public Library system – citing statistics that show children who know how to read are far less likely to commit crimes.
Rizzio and the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights said these programs are a good start, but said they need to be bigger and be more accessible.