Mayor Nutter Sends Curfew Plan To City Council
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Nutter Administration, on Thursday, unveiled its plan to permanently tighten the city's curfew law with earlier hours. This comes in the wake of last summer's flash mob attack in Center City.
The mayor's plan, on what he believes will be a more effective curfew than what is now on the books, will be introduced in City Council.
"The basis for (the changes) is a sense of the developmental realities of young people," said Mark McDonald, Mayor Nutter's spokesman. "There's a distinction between what a 12 or 13-year-old might be capable of, (compared to) a 15-year-old."
Several changes are in store, including earlier hours.
"The older minors during the school year would have to be in by 10 p.m. Fourteen and 15-year-olds by 9 p.m., and minors 13-and-under would be in by 8 p.m."
That is one or two hours earlier than the current curfew. In addition, the mayor wants the curfew hours to be uniform across an entire week, rather than having later weekend hours, which is the rule in place now.
McDonald says, in some respects, these changes will simplify the curfew.
"Parents know how old their children are, and once they know what the rules of the road will be, they'll be able to make the appropriate decisions about when they need to be in."
The hours would be relaxed slightly during the summer.
Many council members seemed to like the ideas, including First District Councilman Frank DiCicco, whose district includes South Street.
"When I was a kid, I didn't go any further than the end of the block," DiCicco tells KYW Newsradio. "And that's what the message needs to be: parents will be held more responsible in my opinion when this bill passes."
City Council will debate the plan in committee.
Reported by Mike Dunn, KYW Newsradio 1060
