Police chief proposes juvenile curfew
Minors in Pflugerville may soon have to abide by a city curfew.
Pflugerville Police Chief Jessica Robledo presented a draft curfew ordinance to the City Council during a June 13 work session. The curfew would prohibit any unattended minors from being in the public from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday nights and midnight to 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights. When school is in session, the ordinance sets a daytime curfew for minors from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Robledo noted that Pflugerville is the only city in the area without a curfew for minors. Hutto, Round Rock and Georgetown all have juvenile curfews with hours the same or similar to those proposed in the city’s draft ordinance. Cedar Park has a nighttime curfew but repealed its daytime curfew in 2012.
The Austin City Council recently voted to temporarily extend its nighttime juvenile curfew through Oct. 1. Austin’s daytime curfew was not extended.
Pflugerville City Manager Brandon Wade said Robledo approached him about two months ago about starting a city curfew.
Robledo said officers will have to “do their due diligence” when evaluating whether a minor is violating the ordinance. “They have to ask the minor their name, age and what their business is at this public place before they even begin to think about, ‘Do I cite? What do I have?’” she said.
Police can assess a fine of up to $500 on minors violating the curfew, according to the draft ordinance.
“A minor commits an offense if he or she remains, walks, stands, drives or rides about in or on a public place or on the premises of any establishment within the city during these curfew hours,” Robledo read from the draft document.
Owners of city businesses commit an offense if they knowingly allow a minor to remain there, she said. “This allows business owners to help the police,” she said.
Parents also could violate the code if they knowingly allow a minor to violate the ordinance, Robledo said.
Over the past three years, city and school district police made 481 juvenile arrests, she said. Twenty-three percent of those arrests were made during the overnight hours of the proposed curfew, she said.
“I am bringing this to the attention of the council because this is a tool for law enforcement to be able to help us curb property crime,” she said.
Council Member Jeff Marsh asked Robledo how officers might respond to high school students who may be allowed to go off campus for lunch during the school day. Robledo said that is something officers can take into consideration.
Mayor Victor Gonzales also mentioned home-schooled students would have to be taken into consideration.
If implemented, the curfew would likely be reviewed by city officials every three years, she said.
Before the curfew is implemented, Robledo said, police would first educate the community on the new restrictions before issuing citations.
Marsh said he is concerned a curfew could “be a little heavy-handed.”
“If we have the ability for officers to get to know their area, we will know who’s doing the wrong stuff at the wrong time,” he said.
City officials said the council will continue discussions on the curfew before taking any action.