TAMPA, Fla — The Tampa City Council is expected to vote Thursday on a city-wide curfew for teens 15 years old and younger.
The curfew would be set at 11 p.m. on weeknights, and midnight on weekends.
Opinions of a teen curfew have been torn since it was proposed last year, with some supporting it and others saying it will do little to reduce violence. The closer look at safety in Ybor City comes after a shooting that left 2 dead and 16 injured before Halloween.
Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw supports the curfew, saying at a recent community forum studies show curfews encourage parents to know where their kids are so they can keep them out of trouble.
“Here in Florida we found in Miami-Dade County, it served primarily as a deterrent effect,” Bercaw said. “One common denominator we found is, researches did find, this suggests that parents play a larger role in the enforcement of juvenile curfew laws than police.”
But Bercaw is also supporting an expansion of city programs just announced that could run alongside any curfew council members approve.
A proposal to increase funding for Tampa Parks Department’s ‘Stay and Play Program’ would help extend hours of operation.
The program currently hosts kids until 10 p.m. during school breaks for holidays and summer. The hours would be extended to midnight.
Tampa City Council has supported the curfew in previous readings of the ordinance. In the latest reading, the council voted 5-2 in favor of the curfew.
