Characters: Thirteen year old Drew Petersen and a Riverside city police officer.
The time: Thursday morning, 11:45 A.M.
The place: City of Riverside; one block from the public library; seven blocks from Drew's home.
The incident: Drew is walking toward her home carrying three books on global political scare tactics of the thought police that she checked-out from the library minutes earlier.
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A black and white pulls up; the officer gets out and stops her. "Why aren't you in school, young lady?" he asks.
"I'm homeschooling and on my way back from the library," Drew tells him confidently.
"Let me see some identification," he says gruffly.
The girl obediently pulls out a picture I.D. and a permission slip signed by her mother.
The officer let Drew go. |
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Police Scare Tactics
Fortunately, Mrs. Petersen knew about the daytime curfew ordinances. If she had not, the above scenario could have ended with Drew being cited for truancy.
Many Southern California cities are instituting daytime curfews. These include Chino, Claremont, Fairfield, Fontana, Los Angeles, Monrovia, Montclair, Ontario, Pomona, Rialto, Redondo Beach, Riverside, San Diego, Upland, West Palm Beach and most Orange County cities. If you live in one of these places, it is illegal for your children (between the ages of six and eighteen) to be out in public during normal school hours without an approved exemption.
According to Orange County's model ordinance, out "in public," includes streets, highways, beaches, parks, playgrounds, hospitals, apartment and office buildings, transport facilities, theaters, game rooms, shopping malls, stores or any other place of business. The city of Buena Park even considered putting "houses" in its list of public places.
What happens to children who break curfew ordinances? Penalties vary but could include fines from $50 to $1000, community service hours, driver's license suspension, and court-ordered juvenile counseling. Parents are punished if they "knowingly permit or by insufficient control allow" their child to violate curfews. They too can be fined or they may be ordered to court approved parenting courses. One proposal allows for up to six months jail time for parents whose children violate the curfew laws a second time.
Loss of Freedom
The curfew laws are an attempt to handle truancy, gangs and juvenile crime but instead they penalize all children and take away their Constitutional rights.
The 4th Amendment guarantees that a person is secure in his person, houses, papers and effects and free from search and seizure without probable cause that a crime has been committed. Daytime curfews allow police to intervene with no evidence that a crime has taken place. Investigation can occur simply because someone looks young and is in public. The child must prove his innocence.
The 5th Amendment guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law. And yet innocent children are deprived of liberty, simply because they are of school age.
Many innocent people can be stopped and questioned by the police. For example, minors who graduate from high school before age 18, students in year-round school who are "off track," students whose schools have unusual days off, students who are out of school during breaks, home-schooled students on flexible schedules, and students whose school day ends earlier or begins later than the curfew ordinance hours.
Children Beware!
Don't let your child be caught off guard. Children away from home during normal public school hours without a parent or adult need to know what to do if stopped by a police officer.
Teach your child to be polite to authorities. Teach him to ask to see the officer's badge (to ensure it is not someone posing as an officer.) Teach your child to look the officer in the eye; your child does not want to look as if he has something to hide. Ensure your child carries an I.D. and a letter giving him permission to be where he is or explaining where he is going. Teach your child to tell the officer he is getting his I.D. and papers out before reaching into his pocket. Teach your child not to make any sudden unexpected movements or do anything that could be construed to put the officer in danger.
Practice these procedures with your child to protect him from unpleasant run-ins with the police.
Get involved
Besides being unconstitutional, daytime curfew ordinances dilute the effectiveness of the police whose energies should be aimed at criminals and crime. Insisting they sweep up all off-campus school age children, regardless of whether the children are actually truant, is counter-productive. Our children need to know that the police are there to help them, not harass them.
If you live in a city with a daytime curfew ordinance, write your district supervisor and city council and tell them why it needs to be revoked. Get your older children involved. This issue affects them personally. Teach them to stand up for their rights. If your city does not have such an ordinance, you and your children should write your supervisor and council thanking them for their common sense on the issue.
When parents and children speak out against daytime curfews, elected officials know it is bad politics not to listen.
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