JACKSON CITY COUNCIL PONDERS CURFEW FOR JUVENILES

JACKSON -- City officials are considering options on whether to enact a citywide curfew.

Mayor Paul Sander said the city will get input from the police department and community groups on how other cities handle their curfews and the effects curfews have on juvenile crime.

The Noon Optimist Club is researching different communities' curfew laws and their effects on curtailing juvenile crime, said Beverly Nelson, a member of the committee overseeing the research.

It could be several weeks before the information is ready to be presented to aldermen, Nelson said.

She said the committee is "trying to lay a lot of groundwork" before going to the Board of Aldermen.

Sander said he wants a recommendation from the police department. The Board of Aldermen will study the information and come to some conclusion, he said.

"From my own personal standpoint, I think the police need an avenue; they need some way to get abusers off the streets," he said. "But I will be real reluctant to support a very stringent curfew that will possible by detrimental to the large majority of our youth that are good kids."

Sander said he is concerned about teens going home from work after curfew or returning from a late ballgame or other legitimate activity.

"We don't want those people harassed," he said. "Those are some things that we want to work out before we jump into it and create a curfew."

Sander said he wants any ordinance enacted to include "some stipulations about what the police can and can't do."

Trying to strike a balance between controlling troublemakers and not bothering the large majority of well-behaved youths "kind of puts you between a rock and a hard place," Sander said.

"Obviously we don't want kids out partying at 1:30 in the morning," he said. "But if somebody's looking to get a 10-o'clock curfew, I won't support that."

A curfew already is in place in Jackson's parks.

The issue of a citywide curfew for juveniles has come up in the last few years, but no action has been taken. The issue arose again this month after resident Paula Salzmann complained to aldermen about a weekend disturbance at her home in the 200 block of South Union.

Salzmann called police because of a loud party involving several teen-agers and was surprised to learn the city doesn't have a curfew.

In February windows in her home were shot through twice, she said, and the party, which occurred at the end of June, added to her anxiety.

"I had a very scary experience, and I wanted the children taken home or sent home or whatever," Salzmann said.

Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Perryville and several other cities' curfew regulations are being reviewed, Nelson said.

In Cape Girardeau the curfew is 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on weekends for juveniles, said police Cpl. Kevin Orr. Curfews are also in place for city parks and cemeteries for people of all ages, he said.