Enforcement of Curfew Throughout L.A. Urged

Amid charges by a city councilman of Police Department failure to act on its own, the Los Angeles City Council urged the LAPD on Wednesday to enforce citywide a 10 p.m. curfew for young people.

The council supported the strict enforcement policy after Assistant Police Chief Robert Vernon reported that in a curfew crackdown initiated last weekend, about 80 violators in South-Central Los Angeles had been detained. The council’s vote was, 10 to 0, with five members absent.

Police and city officials are hoping that strong curfew enforcement, a cause pushed by Councilman Nate Holden, proves an effective preventive measure against shootings, robberies, drug dealing and other crimes involving youths.

Vernon said a tough enforcement policy will be spread gradually during coming weeks until it applies throughout the city. The law prohibits people under 18 years old from loitering on city streets after 10 p.m.

Councilman Robert Farrell, who represents a South-Central district beset with gang crime, suggested that the curfew enforcement should have been emphasized much earlier by the police.

Prompting From Council

“You always had the authority to do so, but it was never done,” Farrell told Vernon. He also chided the police for taking action only after Holden prompted the police to act.

Farrell also said the slayings of “young black people” seem to be a “lower priority” than slayings of others. As an example, he cited the much-publicized police mobilization to curtail the recent rash of freeway shootings. Farrell said the pattern suggests that “the value of white lives is higher than black lives.”

Disagreeing with the councilman, Vernon stressed that police precincts in Farrell’s district have five times the number of homicide investigators than some other districts. He said extra curfew enforcement was only made possible after the council recently allocated $900,000 in overtime money toward gang suppression.

“I think we are responding to the council’s priorities,” the assistant chief said.

Vernon said curfew enforcment has previously been a low priority, in part, because officers are too busy reacting to such crimes as murder, rape and robbery. Also discouraging enforcement, he said, is the “revolving door” within the justice system.

Violators are typically instructed to go home or are taken to the police station and detained until their parents are notified, Vernon said.

However, he said the curfew exercise in South-Central from last Friday night through Sunday night showed good results. Apart from getting loiterers under 18 off the streets, he said curfew enforcement also resulted in arrests for narcotics and weapons violations. Vernon told council members that “a number” of the curfew violators arrested over the weekend were also subsequently charged with possession of drugs and firearms.

Police Lt. Joe Curreri, who was closer to the weekend operation, confirmed that two, nine-officer task forces--one operating out of the Southeast station, the other out of the 77th Street station--made a total of 85 curfew arrests. Contrary to Vernon’s assertion, Curreri said none of those were charged with weapons and narcotics violations.

As part of stricter curfew enforcement, Vernon said the police intend to file petitions against repeat curfew violators--actions that could ultimately lead to youths’ being placed in juvenile detention. Moreover, the council has asked the city attorney to look for ways to hold parents accountable for their childrens’ violations.