Newburgh - After two youth were gunned down this past May, the City of Newburgh Council spoke about the possibility of establishing a curfew.
Chief of Police Eric Paolilli researched towns equal in size to the City of Newburgh and brought his findings to the City Council. Paolilli spoke to cities/towns that currently have curfews. "Both of the patrol commanders classified the curfews they had in place as a success," said Paolilli. The discussion of a curfew is not new to the City of Newburgh. As it currently stands the only curfew that the city enforces is during Halloween.
During the meeting back in May, Mayor Valentine suggested that the city hold various round table discussions to hear how the residents feel about the proposed curfew. This past week the City did just that. Thursday, June 19th, was the 1st round table discussion held at the Activity Center on Washington Street. The 2nd round table discussion was held Saturday morning, June 21st at the Board of Education on Grand Street, and the third is due to be held on Monday, June 30th at the Heights Community Center on South Lander Street.
Both meetings held this past week drew a crowd of about 30 residents. The room was divided in half with people who were 100% for the curfew and those who were 100% against. One thing that almost everyone seemed to agree on was the fact that if these meetings were supposed to simply be a chance to "discuss" a curfew, why was a document drawn up? A local law to Amend was drafted and handed out to the public. The local law does have some blanks in reference to the age of the youth as well as the hours of the curfew. "This document is simply framework for discussion," said City Manager Jean-Ann McGrane.
The local law did however outline what would happen if a youth were caught outside during the citywide curfew.
* The first violation would entail that a letter with a copy of the violation notice be sent to the parents or legal guardians of the youth. The notice shall serve as a warning to the parents that an additional violation of this ordinance shall result in the appearance of the parents and youth before the City of Newburgh Community Accountability Board for disposition and sanction.
* The second violation would means that not only would a letter be sent home, but a parent or guardian along with the youth would need to stand before the Community Accountability Board for disposition and sanction which could include up to 25 hours of community service.
* The third and final violation would include a fine up to $100 dollars and 25 hours of community service. Additionally the police shall notify the Department of Social Services and/or Child Protective Services, as necessary and appropriate.
"A curfew would be a violation of constitutional rights, we need to come together as a community and a clergy," said Reverend Nelson McAllister. "Let’s not kid ourselves here, you know as well as I do this curfew is targeting the Eastern part of the city," said resident Richard Peterson. An unidentified resident stood up and demanded, "Something needs to be done! We have been here before and nothing was done! We need to stop the hemorrhaging!"
