Police Chief Reports on Daytime Curfew

Police have issued three citations since November under the city’s controversial daytime curfew ordinance, which took effect four months ago.

The three citations were all to Long Beach juveniles, one of whom was arrested for auto theft, according to the Police Department’s quarterly report to the City Council this week.

The other two tickets were issued to boys 10 and 12 who were reported to police by an Old Town merchant, the report said.

The two boys were approached by police about 1 p.m., and their school was contacted. The boys were confirmed truant, and police put the two on a bus back to their own community, the report said. One of the two boys has a history of burglary in Long Beach, officials said.

“It is too early to say if this ordinance has had any impact on school attendance in the school district,” Police Chief William Stearns wrote in the report. “However, I feel it is safe to say that it has had an impact on daytime crime in the city of Seal Beach.”

Stearns’ report said that no complaints about the ordinance had been filed with the Police Department and that only one had gone to the city manager’s office.

“The Police Department is to be commended for how well this has been implemented without any problems,” Councilman Harry Fulton said.