The Fayetteville City Council on Tuesday will consider a curfew for young people amid rising concern about juvenile crime. The ordinance was put forward by Police Chief Kemberle Braden as recent gun violence in the city includes shootings that involved minors as perpetrators or victims.
The council will meet for a work session at 5 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 433 Hay St.
According to the agenda, the meeting will feature nine items of discussion. Highlights include:
Youth curfew
The council will consider a Youth Protection Ordinance that is aimed at reducing the juvenile crime rate.
According to the draft ordinance, anyone younger than 18 would be prohibited from being in public from 1 to 5 a.m. weekends and midnight to 5 a.m. weekdays.
The latest deadly shooting involving a juvenile in the city was reported about 8:45 p.m. Saturday, according to a Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office news release.
Deputies found two men who had been shot in the 200 block of Indian Drive, the release said. One was declared dead at the scene; the second was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The dead man was identified as Darian Dale Barton, 21, of Fayetteville.
A juvenile whose name was withheld because of his age is in custody on a first-degree murder charge, the release said.
Watershed study and analysis
The council will hear the results of a watershed assessment it enacted in 2019 to provide a comprehensive look at flooding problems and mitigation strategies. Notably, the presentation will focus on the downtown area, which has been “subject to recurrent flooding, particularly over the last 10 years, with high economic damage.”
Homeless encampments
The council will hear a report on the homeless encampment Impact Reduction Program, which was established last fall in conjunction with the controversial camping ban on city property. According to the report, the program aims to improve the conditions of encampments, mitigate their health and safety risks, and connect unhoused individuals with support services and resources.
The report goes into detail about the two “high-risk encampment” clearings the city conducted: the Ray Avenue and Maiden Lane Traffic Circle encampment and the Martin Luther Kirg Jr. Freeway and Gillespie Street encampment. It also discusses “lessons learned” from these clearings and next steps for the program.
The council meeting will be aired on Spectrum Cable Channel 7 and live-streamed at FayTV.net.
Evey Weisblat is a local government reporter for CityView.
