OXNARD : Police Will Begin Extra Curfew Patrols

Looking for a tactic to squelch gang violence, tagging and teen-age drinking, police in Oxnard are launching a crackdown this weekend on youths loitering after dark.

Fourteen extra officers in seven squad cars will patrol the city’s streets looking for teen-age parties. They will also hover near parking lots and street corners known as gang hangouts.

The officers will focus their efforts between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., authorities said.

“That’s when there’s a lot of graffiti being committed and that’s when we’ve experienced a lot of gang violence,” said Sgt. Chuck Hookstra, who was in charge of the curfew task force Friday night.

“Maybe we can intervene before someone else gets killed,” he said.

The officers planned to arrest juveniles who were in violation of the city’s curfew ordinance, which extends from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Police said they would also consider issuing citations to the parents who allowed their children to roam the streets.

“It’s a tool to deal with the groups that are gathering and causing a lot of the problems,” Hookstra said.

Police said teen-agers with legitimate reasons to be on the street, such as going to a movie, would not be cited.

Hookstra said the extra patrols are likely to continue several nights a week for the next two weeks, when most Oxnard students are out of school, and periodically throughout the summer.

Some of the 14 officers are being paid overtime for the curfew duty, while others have flexible schedules allowing them to work the night shift, he said.