Bridgeport council passes youth curfew

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH) -- Bridgeport officials are hoping a youth curfew will help stem violence in the Park City.

Since the start of the year, 14 memorials have popped up across the city, symbolizing the 14 lives lost to gun violence. Many have been teenagers. ike 15-year-old Keijahnae Robinson who was laid to rest on Friday.

"It's really difficult," said Shively Willingham, Special Asst. to Superintendent of Schools, "and it's tough, you can feel the grief here."

Thursday night, city council members voted 16-1 in favor of a curfew.

Anyone under age 18 will have to stay off the streets from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and from Midnight to 6 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

A curfew violation could lead to a fine or a call to DCF. City leaders who voted for the curfew hope it will mean fewer memorials.

Everyone can agree that the violence needs to stop. But the question remains, can bridgeport police actually enforce this curfew?

News 8 couldn't get the police chief on camera today. But the mayor says 'yes.'

"Our police officers need all the tools they can to keep our kids safe," said Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch. "This is not a dragnet, this is a safety net to interject themselves into the children's lives to make sure they get home safely and if they have problems get them to the right care."

The ACLU says the 'curfew looks like the easy way out politically, but it's a mistake.' The one city council member who voted against the curfew agrees.

"I totally agree with them and first of all if the police department comes out and starts cracking down on the kids it's going to be in the Black community," said James Holloway, (D) City Council. "It's not going to be on Madison Ave. or Blackrock it's going to be on the east side and east end."

When asked if he was concerned about racial profiling, he replied, "Yes I am, very much."

The curfew could go into effect as early as next week.