Committee considers curfew proposal

Mansfield Township Committee looks into proposal to prevent children under 18 years of age from being in public places between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. without their parents.

By: William Wichert
   MANSFIELD — A few members of the Township Committee said this week they are having second thoughts about a proposal to impose a curfew on Mansfield teenagers.
   The public hearing on this curfew ordinance was scheduled to be held Wednesday night, after the Register-News deadline, but some committee members said earlier this week that they did not support the hours set by the legislation.
   Three of the five committee members said they approved of the ordinance’s restrictions during school hours, but not the requirement that prevents children under 18 years of age from being in public places between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. without their parents.
   The committee members said they had introduced this ordinance in response to the Jan. 26 enactment of a state law that allows municipalities to establish curfew ordinances with these specific times, but now they are questioning how such an ordinance would fit the character of the township.
   "I don’t think kids (have) got to have a curfew at night, not in Mansfield," said Mayor Arthur Puglia in a phone interview on Monday. "Unless someone can prove to me that we have crime in Mansfield, I’m only going to support school hours."
   Mayor Puglia said on Tuesday he has changed his mind on the ordinance since its introduction at the April 13 meeting, because several residents called him, complaining about how such an ordinance would make Mansfield look.
   "People said, ‘you put a curfew here and it looks like we’re in a bad town,’" the mayor said. "We don’t want the stigma that Mansfield needs a curfew."
   The ordinance, which was introduced at the April 13 meeting, would prohibit juveniles from being outside late at night, unless they were traveling for their jobs, medical reasons, religious and extracurricular school activities, or because their parents sent them on an errand. The curfew restrictions also apply during the hours of a public or non-public school, the ordinance states.
   The penalties for violating this ordinance would be brought against both the children and their parents. They would be required to perform community service for up to 90 days as well as pay a fine of as much as $1,000, the ordinance states.
   "More than likely what will happen (on Wednesday), if the rest of the committee is in agreement, we would table it and have it rewritten to (only) include school hours," predicted Township Committeeman Jaime Devereaux prior to the meeting.
   Outside of school, the whereabouts of children should be responsibility of their parents, said Mr. Devereaux, who said he establishes times for his own 14-year-old daughter to be home.
   "I always know where she’s going," said Mr. Devereaux. "That’s the responsibility of every parent to know what their children are doing. We have pretty responsible parents in our town and we don’t need to do that (enact the current version of the ordinance)."
   Township Committeewoman Terri Tallon-Hammill said she has set similar rules for her own children, preventing them from going out on school nights and setting a midnight curfew for the weekends.
   "They didn’t have the law to fear," she said. "They had me to fear."
   In her Hedding neighborhood, Ms. Tallon-Hammill said she has not seen any late-night problems that necessitate this type of ordinance. "Is there any harm with the kids walking from one house to the next?" she said.