Mobile Police cracking down on teen curfew in entertainment district – Fox 10 News

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) -Mobile Police are cracking down on underage teens in the entertainment district, during hours when they shouldn’t be there.

This comes less than a week after police say a 13-year-old shot another teen, right in the middle of Bienville Square.

Captain Matthew Garrett, the man in charge of keeping people safe in the city’s bustling entertainment district, says this curfew isn’t new.

It’s been in place over a decade now.

But after that shooting last week involving the two minors, he says it’s time to refresh people’s memory.

“To those parents and guardians, and we need them to know that if the children do come down, the minors do come down, they will be detained by a police officer,” Garrett said.

The curfew has been in place since 2011 and states clearly, anyone under the age of 18 without a parent or guardian in the entertainment district after 10:00 shouldn’t be there.

“The minors on the other hand, to know that we want voluntary compliance okay,” Garrett said. “We don’t want to have to write citations or call parents.”

Garrett says if the rules aren’t followed, the teens could find themselves in the back of a police car.

This extra show of force is happening after officers swarmed Bienville Square last week.

Police say a 13-year-old boy came to the park with a gun and shot another 13-year-old.

It happened during the hours when the curfew was in place.

“Over the past year to two years like I said we’ve had some sporadic problems crop up down here with juveniles showing up,” Garrett said. “However we’ve not been able to put our finger on exactly why it is they show up, what’s drawing them? Because it’s not every night, it’s not every weekend.”

Police will be out checking IDs to make sure everyone is in compliance with the curfew.

So the entertainment district can continue to be enjoyed safely.

“The steps we take going forward is going to include a lot of preventive steps a lot of visibility. Hopefully, that will deter a lot of minors going into the area,” Garrett said.

The curfew is in effect every day of the week starting at 10:00 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning.

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