At Monday’s meeting, the Fayetteville City Council voted to enact an implementation strategy for the youth curfew first approved in May.
The youth protection safety ordinance was passed on May 27 without enforcement procedures. It prohibits anyone 16 or younger from being out in public between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless they are with a parent or authorized guardian, or have a valid reason, according to the terms of the ordinance. Modeled after Charlotte’s ordinance, the curfew would carry criminal penalties for parents and owners of establishments where curfew-breakers are discovered. Youth will no longer be subjected to criminal penalties after the council removed the provision on Monday.
Over the past 20 business days, a task force led by the city’s special projects manager Brook Redding was created to come up with enforcement procedures and to coordinate between the various entities that would be involved in the curfew. Redding said the task force involved various city and county participants, including the Fayetteville Police Department, City Attorney’s Office, City Manager’s Office, Cumberland County Department of Social Services and representatives from the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and community nonprofits that support youth.
The city will commence enforcement of the curfew on July 9 after a 30-day grace period that began on Monday, Redding said. During the grace period, the city will unveil a comprehensive educational campaign to inform residents of the curfew and its enforcement. Interim Police Chief Todd Joyce said citations will not be issued during the grace period. Resources will be provided to parents and guardians to aid in avoiding further offenses, and businesses will receive materials outlining strategies to deter future violations.
Beginning on Tuesday, officers will receive training in curfew enforcement procedures. Joyce said the training will include an overview of ordinance requirements, enforcement protocols and officer judgement calls, response scenarios and referral paths and coordination with the Department of Social Services, Department of Juvenile Justice and other community partners.
Officers will have discretion to issue citations for first offenses. Subsequent violations may result in charges against parents or guardians. Charges include a Class 3 misdemeanor and a maximum fine of $500. Business owners who allow youth to break the curfew by being in their establishment outside of the designated hours could also face these criminal charges.
Redding shared enforcement details about the ordinance:
- Officers will approach juveniles who appear to be breaking the curfew and ask their age and reason for being out. If there is a violation, officers will attempt to contact the parents or guardians of the juveniles.
- If no parent or guardian can be reached, the officer will escort the juvenile to the family home to attempt in-person contact.
- If no parent or guardian is home, the officer will hold juveniles for up to 12 hours (or up to 24 hours on weekends/holidays) while attempting to contact parents. DSS involvement will be triggered at the 10-hour mark if parents cannot be contacted.
- After receiving the report, if DSS determines the child meets the criteria for a Child Protective Services screening, DSS will initiate a CPS assessment within 72 hours of the report.
- If DSS determines the youth does not meet the criteria for CPS screening, the juvenile will remain in the care of the officer in a safe location until the parent or guardian is contacted.
- Soft rooms at the police department will be used for temporary juvenile custody and snacks will be provided. Soft rooms are designed to be comfortable and relaxing and typically used for interviewing or keeping safe victims or vulnerable individuals.
The curfew will be implemented for a one-year pilot period, after which time the council will assess its long-term effectiveness.
Youth criminal penalties removed
In addition to passing enforcement procedures, the council removed criminal penalties for youth that had been included in the original ordinance. Previously, the law had stated youth caught violating the curfew could be considered “adjudicated delinquent” by a judge, meaning they have been found guilty of a delinquent act, thereby entering them into the juvenile justice system.
At Monday’s discussion — two weeks after passing the ordinance — several council members expressed concern about a clause in the ordinance that criminalized youth for breaching the curfew. Mayor Mitch Colvin proposed amending the ordinance to remove youth criminalization, noting his goal when proposing the ordinance was to bring accountability to parents who allow their children to be out at night and unsupervised.
“Because I think the spirit in our understanding, particularly mine, was that … there’s consequences for the juvenile, but the criminal element was to the parent,” Colvin said.
The council voted 9-1 to accept the enforcement procedure and amend the ordinance to remove the youth penalties. Council Member Deno Hondros voted in opposition, saying he had unresolved questions about the juvenile custody procedures, particularly in cases where the police department maintains temporary custody when a parent can’t be reached, and other areas of the ordinance that are based on a police officer’s individual discretion.
“Based on the back and forth we’re hearing and a lot of officer discretion, do we actually believe that we can successfully train our officers to properly enforce this ordinance?” Hondros asked Joyce at one point.
“Yes, sir, I do,” the police chief replied.
Council Member Mario Benavente, who had also questioned the youth criminalization in the ordinance and raised concerns about the ordinance’s legality, asked Joyce how many juveniles the Fayetteville Police Department had actually documented to be out during curfew hours. Joyce said, in a one-year period, there had been 96 field contacts, or instances in which officers encounter a juvenile, during curfew hours.
Youth engagement programming added
As the curfew is rolled out, the city will also host three late-night youth activities for free this summer, aimed at fostering youth engagement. Geared toward 12-17 year-olds, the activities will run from 7 p.m to 10 p.m. and involve nonprofit-led mentoring, recreational activities, time for socializing, creative and educational workshops and safe spaces for discussion. FPD will be there to supervise and the city will also provide food and beverages. The city is coordinating with nonprofit partners for transportation assistance, staff said.
The programming will be a collaborative effort between the Office of Community Safety, the city’s Economic and Community Development Department, Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation, nonprofit community partners and faith leaders and the Fayetteville Police Department.
“The objective of the late-night youth programming pilot is to provide safe, engaging late-night activities for youth ages 12 through 17 through mentorship, recreation and community partnerships during curfew hours,” said Nichelle Gaines, the community safety program manager for the OCS. “So it’s just a safe space to have our youth engage with each other and our community to socialize and connect with mentors and ultimately helping to try to divert them from delinquency through structured activities.”
Dates and locations include June 28 at the Community Outreach Center, July 11 at the College Lakes Recreation Center and Aug. 15 at the Cliffdale Recreation Center.
The events will cost the city approximately $15,000, Redding said; the expense is included in the $150,000 OCS budget for youth opportunities. The city is also providing an additional $100,000 for community-safety grants for nonprofits in its fiscal year 2025-2026 budget.
Government accountability reporter Evey Weisblat can be reached at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
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