CITY TERRACE : Curfew Crackdown Helps Lower Crime

Crime and loitering are down in a seven-square-mile area after a Sheriff’s Department crackdown on young curfew violators.

At the request of neighborhood groups, sheriff’s deputies started a pilot program in January to ticket curfew violators. Residents complained that too many teen-agers and children were out late at night, in some cases tagging buses and causing other problems.

“We had a serious problem and had been asking law enforcement as well as our government representatives to do something about this,” said Gloria Chavez, president of the City Terrace Coordinating Council, “because it was getting to a point where many of our people were afraid to go outside, especially on City Terrace Drive.”

Over a four-month period, deputies wrote 246 tickets carrying a $675 fine each, said Sheriff’s Lt. Robert Hoffman. Youths can attend counseling sessions and perform community service in lieu of the fine.

“It seems to be working,” Chavez said. “Of course, it hasn’t totally solved the problem, but it has made things easier. We don’t see as much loitering.”

For 17-year-old Jose Moreira, being cited for violating curfew has brought a turnaround that even he would not have believed just a few months ago. The former Roosevelt High School student was with a friend on Valentine’s Day when the two were cited in City Terrace.

Moreira was told he would have to complete 200 hours of community service, but like most of the teen-agers cited, he was able to reduce those hours by improving his grades and working after school. Some youths tutor students at Hamasaki Elementary School to work off their hours.

With the help of the staff at Project JADE (Juvenile Assistance Diversion Effort), started by the County Probation Department in January at the Centro Maravilla service center, Moreira did his homework and improved his attitude. He graduated from Montebello High School on Thursday morning.

“I think if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be graduating,” Moreira said Wednesday. “One thing about this program is they help you out, but if they see you need extra help, they’ll give it to you. I wanted to be helped. I changed my life around.”

Since opening in East Los Angeles, Project JADE has counseled about 90 youths who have violated curfew or were truant, said coordinator Hector Anaya. Parents must attend parenting classes for 10 weeks, and the youths attend counseling sessions.

Residents in the City Terrace area also asked for and received a sobriety checkpoint over the Memorial Day weekend in which the California Highway Patrol stopped 344 cars and arrested three people on suspicion of drunk driving, said Public Affairs Officer Louis Gutierrez. The checkpoint was at City Terrace Drive and Hazard Avenue.

The CHP also cracked down on traffic violations in the unincorporated area of City Terrace from May 12-31 after residents complained that drivers were speeding near elementary schools. Officers ticketed 120 drivers for speeding, failing to heed stop signs and other violations, Gutierrez said.

“A lot of times we do this as a special request from the residents,” Gutierrez said. “People were tired of people speeding. There’s a few schools in the area there, so we went in there and did our thing.”

Hoffman said the curfew enforcement effort has eased because fewer teen-agers are out after hours.

“The kids know better now,” he said.