Officials discuss how to enforce curfew laws

The meeting was called to order at 9 a.m. The meeting in council chambers at Cincinnati City Hall lasted more than 2 ½  hours.

Committee members present:

• Council Member Scotty Johnson, chair
• Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, vice chair
• Council Member Mark Jeffreys
• Council Member Anna Albi

Guest council members present for the committee meeting:

• Council Member Evan Nolan
• Council Member Jeff Cramerding
• Council Member Meeka Owens

Presentation on youth curfew enforcement

Item 1 was a presentation about curfew enforcement for unaccompanied minors. There is a 1997 law already on the books, so the city is taking a step back to ensure it is in line with 2025 society and current young people, Committee Chair Scotty Johnson explained.

Presenters were City Manager Sheryl Long, Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge, and City Solicitor Emily Smart Woerner. A Hamilton County juvenile court judge was also present and assisted in answering questions from the committee.

Curfew enforcement by Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) has been part of that conversation, Long said.

The city manager’s office has been working on this plan for a month. Woerner presented two draft ordinances that would update the 1997 law:

• The first ordinance, if passed, would create a single curfew time of 11 p.m. 
• The second ordinance adds a special extended curfew district of 9 p.m. in portions of the Central Business District and Over-the-Rhine. 

This is how an engagement with unaccompanied minors would go:

• If an unaccompanied minor is found after curfew, a CPD officer will engage with them.
• The officer will encourage the juvenile to comply and go home. If they don’t comply, the officer can detain them.
• Officers will transport those in violation back home or to the curfew center, which will be the Seven Hills Neighborhood House. 
• If a youth has outstanding charges, they will be transported to the Youth Center at 2020 Auburn Ave. (the youth detention center, better known as “2020”).
• When a youth has arrived at the curfew center, the staff will attempt to contact a responsible adult.
• If contact is made, the youth will be transported home. If unable to reach an adult, the youth will be taken to Lighthouse Youth & Family Services.

Seven Hills will provide counseling, services and space to sit and get food and water. Staff will work with Jobs and Family Services to assist families. 

Long wanted to avoid using Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) centers because she wants youth to associate rec centers with positive experiences rather than punishment.

Committee member remarks

Committee members asked questions and made comments about the youth curfew enforcement plan.

Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney:

Kearney, committee vice chair, suggested some extra services that could be provided to youth while they are at the Seven Hills Neighborhood House. She sees it as an opportunity to identify what resources children and teens need in their lives and suggested promoting the Youth to Work program at the center. 

“A lot of the kids we’re going to encounter are the ones we need to ask what’s going on at home,” Kearney said.

She said she “respectfully disagrees” that taking youth to rec centers is a bad idea. In areas that are mostly residential, that might be a better option. 

The curfew enforcement will also need to be equitable, she added, because she doesn’t want the community to think they are keeping people safe in certain areas vs. others. For example, if children were picked up in Evanston but not Mount Lookout.

In response, Long said every officer in the department will be made aware of the curfew enforcement initiative. Theetge added part of the methodology was speaking to officers about what they deal with at night.

Council Member Anna Albi:

Albi cited the current youth curfew ordinance on the books, saying it needed to be updated. That would be the prerogative of council to do so.

The ordinance says any youth caught violating the curfew would be guilty of a crime, Albi said, and asked Kari Bloom, the juvenile court judge, if that would still happen.

Bloom said compliance is the main focus, and charging someone would be the last resort. The curfew violation charge in Hamilton County is a status offense, meaning it’s only against the law because of your age or who you are. Minors can’t be taken to 2020 or incarcerated solely on that charge. 

The exception would be if the minor has an open case or warrant. When picked up by an officer, they would be charged with the other offenses.

Bloom said a status offense could go on their record, but youth records can be sealed or expunged at certain times. Families could also seek a diversion process if the child is charged.

Albi noted the ordinance also says juveniles can’t be held longer than three hours. Woerner said the three-hour rule is in state law, the maximum time for police to have custody of youth before reuniting them with a responsible adult.

The city manager and chief are open to working with juvenile courts and assisting in finding community members to help get those children home.

In response to Albi’s question on how the city is getting the word out, Long said 311 community responders would be involved. She had a call with 48 community partners to get the word out, and the city will also promote it on social media.

The first step: officers warning youth that curfew is approaching each night. That would avoid taking them to the curfew center if they comply. Every engagement would be reminding youth of being deployed to different centers downtown, Long said.

Johnson, a former Cincinnati police officer, pointed out that an encounter with police is not always negative.

“We do want interaction with police and juveniles. Over the years, it builds rapport,” he said.

Council Member Mark Jeffreys:

Jeffreys asked if this is a year-round initiative. Long said it’s very important to have it  year-round so they can gather data and check on it in five or six months to see how it’s going.

“We need to be on the side of being more proactive than reactive, and this may be an opportunity to get kids on the other side of things,” Long said. “In order to do that, we need a bigger snapshot, so we need to do it year-round”

Theetge said parents would be instructed to go to a physical location in order to pick up their children. Officers would use discretion case-by-case whether to take a child to the center. For example, if siblings are found violating curfew, it may just be easier to take them home.

If it’s a large group of juveniles, how would that work, Jeffreys asked. Theetge said the goal is to get the child home and the interaction with the officer doesn’t escalate.

Council Member Meeka Owens:

Owens asked if the curfew enforcement detail would include community resource officers (CROs) or school resource officers (SROs) – the officers already skilled in encounters with children.

Theetge specified that this enforcement initiative would not include a specific police detail. It is a tool for all CPD officers to utilize when they come in contact with youth. All officers are already trained on how to interact with young people, she noted.

Owens asked why they think young people come downtown. Theetge said when the city first started seeing issues with unruly youth at Government Square a few years ago, she watched and observed that “they go down there to see people and be seen.” It’s where they go to meet up with their friends and post on social media.

“That’s why the 9 p.m. curfew is so important,” Theetge said. “It’s one thing to go down there and socialize. It’s what happens after the socializing is finished and disorderly behavior and crime follows.”

An advocate who works with Iris Roley’s team stepped to the podium with her to explain. It’s where children go after they leave school. They just go there to meet, talk and play: “It’s just a place to hang out for them,” he said.

Owens asked how safe spaces can be promoted as opposed to spaces downtown. The advocate said more safe spaces are needed. For example, CRC centers can be renovated to have more activities to attract youth. 

“Everyone in the city needs to collaborate so we’re all working together for the same cause,” he said.

As soon as council passes the ordinance, the city manager’s office will contract with Lighthouse and Seven Hills, Long said. Her office hopes to get that taken care of this weekend.

Additional comments:

Council Member Evan Nolan said he is not a big fan of curfews, and 9 p.m. seems early.

Council Member Jeff Cramerding said this is a great step to boost confidence in public safety. Like Kearney, he is also concerned about equitable enforcement across neighborhoods, and would like to hear further on that in the future.

Johnson, the committee chair, thanked the chief and the city manager for their comprehensive approach.

“Anybody that’s got a grain of sense who is looking at the efforts of this city, as trying to make sure young people are safe and we’re doing what we can do to keep them safe,” Johnson said. “Anyone that would reject that we’re not doing anything to address these issues has their head in the sand and is trying to be adversarial for no reason.”

It is ultimately incumbent on parents to accept responsibility, he added.

Agenda items

Agenda items were addressed in no specific order.

Item 2 is a motion that allows the city to leverage funding available through PIVOT and ACT for Cincy to pursue violence reduction strategies. Passed and put on for full council vote. (Kearney was the only no vote).

Item 3 is a motion that would allow the city to immediately use $2 million from the general fund contingency account for expediting lateral police recruit class and fund police overtime, walking and bike patrols, tech upgrades, lighting and security cameras, and other public safety measures to “deter violent crime in the Central Business District and other crime hot spots.” Passed and put on for full council vote.

Item 4 is an ordinance that incentivizes people who have completed a public safety internship to pursue CPD jobs. Passed and put on for full council vote.

Item 6 is an ordinance establishing a blanket 11 p.m. curfew for unaccompanied minors. Passed and put on for full council vote.

Item 7 is an ordinance establishing the special extended curfew district zones for minors downtown. Curfew in those zones is 9 p.m. Passed and put on for full council vote.

Item 8 is an ordinance to establish salary ranges for a new private parking lot inspector job. Passed and put on for full council vote.

Motion by Vice Mayor Kearney, Council Member Johnson

Kearney and Johnson submitted a motion to release the $275,000 allocated in October 2024 for the Advance Peace Program, which they said has reduced gun violence across the country. The program would be administered by Kings and Queens, a local gun violence prevention nonprofit, rather than by Cincinnati Works due to the age of the participants.

The ordinance to allocate $275,000 to the Advance Peace Program was passed in October 2024. It was contingent on Kearney’s office raising matching funds, an effort that is underway.

“However, I think given what’s happening in our city now, we just cannot wait. We need to get moving,” Kearney said.

What the city needs to supplement the city’s gun violence prevention measures, ACT For Cincy, according to Kearney: A community violence interrupter (CVI) program. There were 63 gun homicides in both 2023 and 2024. This year, juvenile gun homicides are on the rise.

The Advance Peace Program is a CVI strategy founded in Richmond, California, over a decade ago. Kearney wants to implement it in Cincinnati. Specs of Advance Peace, according to the motion:

• The program would implement a community CVI infrastructure to engage the small group of people who are at the center of gunfire. (Gun violence feeds off of a continuing cycle of trauma, surrounded by conflicts between people in communities.)
• CVIs are “credible messengers” who have lived experience on the streets of the city they serve. They are paid, full-time city jobs.
• CVIs engage daily with those who are most at risk of shooting or being shot. They help those involved in ongoing gun violence to understand they have other options and can make different choices.
• Other elements of Advance Peace include mapping life goals, navigating social services, participating in group life skills classes, traveling, and learning conflict resolution.
• Participants awarded stipends for achieving certain milestones, such as maintaining a job. This is for positive reinforcement. 

Other cities have succeeded with their Advance Peace initiatives. Richmond, California, was once considered the third most dangerous city in the United States in terms of gun violence. Now it is below the top 50 cities for gun violence rates.

Other cities that have implemented CVI infrastructure saw reductions in gun homicides: Lansing, Michigan (-42%), Fresno, California (-45%) and Orlando, Florida (-26%).

Committee remarks

Jeffreys said he would vote against the Advanced Peace motion, as he did when it was first introduced in October 2024, because he doesn’t want to give money to people engaging in bad behavior. He suggested other programs, including the Urban League’s Building Futures program, could do the same thing.

“Just the idea of giving $1,000 a month to people who have been convicted of gun felonies for their good behavior I think is just completely bonkers,” Jeffreys said.

In response, Kearney said people are not paid for bad behavior. It’s the opposite – it’s positive reinforcement for meeting milestones.

Albi questioned how funding would work because they’ve already had one community partner fall through.

Kearney said the money has already been allocated. She just has to continue raising matching funds.

“At this point we need the money released now because we need to get moving with this program. People are dying, and we need to be courageous,” she said. “We need to make a difference. I think to allow this gun violence to continue, and think that we’re doing enough, does not make any sense.”

Committee vote:

• Johnson: Yes
• Kearney: Yes
• Jeffreys: No
• Albi: No.

Motion failed.

Johnson made additional remarks, applauding the public servants working to keep Cincinnati on the right track.

“Everybody that’s trying to divide this city, whether on a national or local platform, I tell them to get their head out of the sand and be a part of the solution, not part of the problem,” Johnson said. “We have a lot to do societal-wise in this country. It’s not just Cincinnati.”

The meeting adjourned at 11:44 a.m. 

These notes can be found at Documenters.org

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