A countywide curfew is slowly coming to fruition after the
members of county’s Intergovernmental Committee
– with help from the sheriff, police department and the
gang-task force coordinator – discussed a new curfew and its
punishments Thursday.
A countywide curfew is slowly coming to fruition after the members of county’s Intergovernmental Committee – with help from the sheriff, police department and the gang-task force coordinator – discussed a new curfew and its punishments Thursday.
The committee, which consists of county Supervisors Robert Rivas and Margie Barrios, Hollister City Councilwomen Pauline Valdivia, City Manager Clint Quilter and County Administrative Officer Rich Inman, met hoping to pinpoint a plan in creating a universal document that would hold parents more accountable for their children.
The meeting came nearly a month after Rivas announced at a board meeting the need to create a new ordinance.
During the meeting, the group agreed to move forward by allowing the Sheriff Darren Thompson and Police Chief Jeff Miller to create a list of what is needed in the new law. Eventually the list would be presented to District Attorney Candice Hooper before County Counsel Matthew Granger and City Attorney Stephanie Atigh draft it.
The committee hoped that the representatives from San Juan Bautista would eventually join the group.
The push for a new curfew comes months after an April shooting killed 14-year-old girl at 2:40 a.m. near Sherwood Drive and East Park Street in Hollister. Police arrested the “primary” suspect days after the incident.
During the meeting, Miller said he wanted to make sure something like that would never happen again.
“We’ve got to get to the parents,” he said. “This is one more tool in the tool box.”
Miller believed a curfew that attaches more parental responsibility would force “parents to be parents,” he said.
“We need to start getting tougher on parents so they place value with the lives of their children,” he said.
He added, “When they get into trouble, we need to the parents to exercise control. We don’t want to see another dead child.”
Overall, police have dealt with about 60 curfew violations over the past few years, Capt. David Westrick said during the meeting.
As of now, the sheriff’s office does not have a way of counting curfew violations, Thompson said, but the department will soon.
“It’s is an essential tool for law enforcement to find out what is going on and who you are,” Thompson said.
As of now, the county and city have similar curfew laws, but they differ on penalties. The county doesn’t have a penalty in its ordinance, but the city can issue a fine, according to the laws.
But representatives from the city and county hoped to create something more universal and tougher.
Barrios wanted the curfew to specifically target kids’ parents and hold them responsible for the violations, she said. Overall she wanted parents to either pay an increasing fine or to visit a parenting class.
“We need to keep this moving forward,” she said.
