CINCINNATI — The City of Cincinnati will soon put its curfew enforcement strategy to the test, with its curfew center set to open for the first time on Friday night.
Here's a reminder of the revised curfew plan in place:
- City-wide curfew: 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. for all unaccompanied minors under the age of 18.
- Special curfew district: 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. — with some exceptions — for all unaccompanied minors under the age of 18.
The special curfew district spans Over-the-Rhine and the Central Business District, seen in the image below:
Any minors who violate the curfew, Mayor Aftab Pureval said, will first receive a warning from the city's 311 staff or members of the Collaborative Agreement's problem-solving staff.
If they do not comply, CPD officers may take the minor to the newly-created curfew center at Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses, where staff will then take up the job of contacting the child's parent or guardian. The facility will have food, water and a safe place for them to wait until their parent or guardian can be contacted.
Pureval said minors who cannot go home or do not have a home will be taken to Lighthouse Youth & Family Services.
In a statement on Friday, a Cincinnati Police Department spokesperson said they will always prioritize voluntary compliance.
"That goal is within reach if we all do our part to ensure our youth are accounted for and off the streets during curfew hours. Together, we can make a lasting impact," he said.
The CPD spokesperson also made a direct call out to parents and guardians.
"We urge you to take this opportunity to have open and honest conversations with your children. This policy exists for one reason only: their safety," he said. "If your child is under the age of 18, they must be in a safe environment by 11 p.m. — and by 9 p.m. if they are within the newly designated Special Curfew District."
WATCH: Hear from a city with a similar curfew enforcement strategy in place
More than 100 miles away, in Indianapolis, the city's police department recently partnered with community nonprofit organizations to launch a similar initiative. Instead of a curfew center, the safe space has been dubbed a reunification center.
"The overarching theme, or the comment, I guess, was, 'Let's not make this punitive,'" Kareem Hines, founder of Indianapolis nonprofit New B.O.Y., said. "In my program, we call it connection before correction. So, there has to be a correction somewhere, whether it be with the family [or] with the young person."
Here’s how the strategy, which launched for the WNBA All-Star weekend, worked:
- Officers give a 30 and a 15-minute warning through the PA systems of patrol cars before curfew goes into effect.
- Those who fail to comply are taken to a designated safe location.
- Upon arrival, officers attempt to contact parents while community partners offer resources. If they can't reach anyone, the kids are taken to the juvenile detention center for a curfew violation as a last resort.
According to Hines, the initiative was launched for that weekend only so far. It did not see a large number of curfew violators, he said, but it proved effective.
"Just having the food, the drinks created a sort of a nurturing environment for the kids," Hines said. "I'm just hopeful that the leadership and whoever in Cincinnati is facilitating these [curfew] centers, uses that model of connection before correction."
Hines and the other nonprofits are now collaborating with city of Indianapolis partners to expand the initiative.
"So what we are now charged with is duplicating that reunification center and spreading it across the city, because (what) we don't want to do is just look like we're enforcing curfew in our downtown area; there are many other areas in the city where curfew needs to be enforced," said Hines.
