10 p.m. curfew gets council committee's OK

A proposal to tighten the city's midnight curfew for juveniles is a step closer to becoming law: Yesterday, the City Council's Public Safety Committee approved the proposed ordinance, meaning it will likely be up for a full council vote next month — with Mayor Bill White's support. The proposal would institute a 10 p.m. weekday and 11 p.m. weekend curfew for kids younger than 17; those 17 and older wouldn't be subject to the law. The city's current midnight curfew applies to people younger than 18. Officials say the new curfew is meant to protect, not punish, kids:

"It will give officers a tool to inquire as to what young people are doing in the streets after 10 p.m.," said Councilman Adrian Garcia, chairman of the committee and a former police officer. "It is not a call against young people, but it gives us an opportunity to make sure that young people are out of harm's way."

Many of the crimes committed by juveniles, as well as crimes in which teenagers are the victims, occur during the two-hour time frame that would be covered under the amended ordinance, said Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Mike Thaler.

And there's a lot of juvenile crime between 10 and 11 p.m., KTRK reported: So far this year, police say they've arrested 2,500 kids committing crimes during that hour. (We have to wonder, though, whether they'll just move their crime time up an hour if the curfew goes into effect.) Exceptions to the proposed curfew would be made for teens accompanied by parents, attending school, religious or government-sponsored events, coming home from work or in an emergency.

White's spokesman, Frank Michel, said the mayor likes the new curfew idea and is looking for opinions from councilmembers. We expect those opinions will be pretty favorable: During the committee vote Monday, councilwomen Toni Lawrence, Sue Lovell and Carol Alvarado joined Garcia in supporting the proposal.