CLEVELAND — Cleveland is going after parents in its efforts to crack down on curfew violations.
Monday night, Cleveland City Council approved an emergency ordinance to more than double the fines for parents of children out past curfew.
The penalties are going up from $100 to $250 for a first-time offense and to $500 for a second-time offense.
The cut-off times for children to be home are also earlier:
- 12 and under: dark
- 13-14 year olds: 9:30 p.m.
- 15-16 year olds: 11 p.m.
- 17 year olds: midnight
The push for harsher curfew penalties comes as the city grapples with an increase in car thefts and violent crimes committed by young people.
READ MORE: Cleveland councilman pushing to increase penalties for nighttime teen curfew violations
“Residents and the city of Cleveland are fed up with this stuff. We’re fed up. This is just pure insanity,” said Ward 8 City Councilman Michael Polensek. “If you want to have children, be responsible for them.”
Polensek sponsored the ordinance that was approved on Monday. Ward 7 Councilwoman Stephanie Howse also added a requirement for family participation in court-ordered support programs after a first offense and a "family root cause analysis" to figure out why a child might be out unsupervised after curfew.
“Get us the cases, we’ll get the parents in front of us and try to figure out what’s going on in the lives of those kids and why they’re running the streets in the middle of the night,” Polensek said.
Community groups have also been ramping up their own efforts to tackle youth violence and crime.
“When we talk about creating solutions, we have to be mindful of every single facet that these young people are facing in these environments,” said Antoine “Chairman Fahiem” Tolbert, the Chairman for New Era Cleveland.
The organization will open its new after-school program Rites of Passage on Oct. 9 with 21 enrolled students ages 9-20. New Era plans to offer wrap-around services like meals, trauma-informed care, therapy and job training. Much of the programming is geared toward at-risk youth and outreach to their families.
READ MORE: Local After School program working to keep kids out of trouble
Tolbert said he was driven to create the violence prevention group based on his own experiences.
“It’s been like survivor’s remorse seeing a lot of my friends and the trajectory from when they were young to where they are today,” he explained. “It was already preordained for them to either go to jail or for them to fall victim to gun violence or drug addiction or mental health [challenges].”
He supports part of the Cleveland ordinance to find the root cause of the curfew violations, but worries about the financial strain of steeper fines and court appearances for some already overburdened families.
“[There should be] accountability for neglectful parents whose children are out here. But for those parents that are screaming for help, that have tried and exhausted every single option, there needs to be an investment in new solutions,” Tolbert said.
Curfew enforcement has also been a challenge. News 5 Investigators previously reported the Cleveland Municipal Court had 32 curfew violations in the first 7 months of 2023, compared to 56 in the same timeframe in 2022.
“Now it’s up to the administration, to CPD and the Cleveland police prosecutor to pursue these cases and get them in muni court,” Polensek said.
Instead of increased enforcement and prosecution, Tolbert would like to see more investment in preventative resources and community groups like his.
“Yes, this crime is happening. We have to address it,” he said. “But I just want us to have conversations about taking a different approach.”
