Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

JPs table request for curfew, call for input

Nevada County could be under a curfew in

coming months.

The issue arose during the regular August

meeting of the Nevada County Quorum Court

when Nevada County Deputy Prosecutor

Dana Stone addressed the justices of the

peace.

Its come to our attention that there is not

a curfew in the county, she said. There is

one for the city, but not the county.

Stone said law enforcement and officials

of the countys court system had asked her

about the possibility. She said the objective is

to provide a tool for officers.

I know there might be some opposition to

it but it will help, Stone said.

She cited the number of juvenile cases

recently in which young people were the perpetrators

of various crimes.

JP Myrna Watters said the problem with

implementing a curfew is that there arent

enough officers to patrol the entire county.

She said having a curfew wont help because

there still wont be enough officers to catch

those breaking curfew.

Two residents of the county spoke up, saying

that it wasnt fair for all young people to

be placed under a curfew simply because a

few were breaking the law.

JP Bob Cummings expressed concern over

the curfew. Cummings cited a lawsuit filed in

Helena over a curfew implemented in a portion

of that city.

In the case of Helena, the objective was

the same  stopping crime. There are differences

in that and the curfew proposed in

Prescott. One is that the Helena curfew

applied to a specific area and applied 24-

hours a day.

The City of Prescotts curfew applies to

those less than 17-year-old, according to

Prescott Police Chief Brian Russell. Russell

said the city police officers allow some leeway

for young people coming from work. In

addition, officers typically give a teenager a

chance to go home.

We generally stop them and tell them to

go home, Russell said. If we catch them

repeatedly, we pick them up.

He said there are probably less than 10

arrests a year but said officers make 20 or

so stops a month.

Russell said the key to effectively using

the curfew is to realize that they are, after all,

still youngsters.

If theyre just children being children, we

try to understand that, he said.

Russell said he believes the city curfew is

a positive law.

It gives parents the security of knowing

the police are watching their children,

Russell said. I think its a benefit and I think

most of the community thinks so, too.

The JPs ended their discussion of a possible

county-wide curfew without taking any

action.

Several members suggested that they wait

for public comments before making a decision.