INDIANAPOLIS — City-County Council approved a new youth curfew ordinance at Monday night's meeting.
For 120 days, children 14 and under will not be allowed out after 9 p.m. on any day.
Children 15 to 16 cannot be out later than 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
17-year-olds were removed from the curfew hours when councilors passed the final vote.
WRTV sat down with four kids, ages 11 to 15, who live in Indianapolis and are affected by the curfew.
They tell WRTV that youth gun violence is something they’ve gotten used to hearing about.
“Now it’s like, people just die every day. I’m kinda used to the people dying,” 15-year-old Bri’Asya Yates said.
“More kids are dying, and the parents aren’t really doing anything about it," 15-year-old Mekenzie Hughes added.
The curfew is a response to violent incidents involving teens that happened last month, specifically, the mass shooting which claimed the lives of two teens over July 4th weekend.
“It’s beyond just a curfew. It’s a tool, it’s not the only tool. There are bigger issues that we have to address as a society. Then we need some help from the juvenile court. They have to start sharing more info with us, and we’re working on that in order for us to intervene and prevent these things from happening," IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said.
Some of the youth feel less optimistic about the new curfew’s effectiveness.
“All the stuff people are doing, especially downtown, it really limits them, but that doesn’t mean they’re gonna stop," 12-year-old Kori Hines said.
“The adults need more discipline. They need to discipline their kids," Yates added.
IMPD has partnered with community organizations to help enforce curfew laws in the past.
During WNBA All-Star weekend, New B.O.Y. was one of the organizations facilitating a reunification center for children found downtown after curfew.
New B.O.Y. founder Kareem Hines would like to see that implemented again.
“Right now, we’re in the works, we’re in discussions with IMPD, we’re in discussions with OPHS to not only have that in place for July 4. But to continue that, there needs to be collaboration. There needs to be a strategy in place," Hines said.
