Teen curfew not a priority for the region

Gov. Susana Martinez said this month she plans to ask for state law that would allow communities across New Mexico to enact curfews.

But it’s not an issue high on the priority list for local entities.

And state Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, is not a fan either.

Government, he said, should not fulfill parental duties.

“Those decisions are better made by the parents anyway,” Ingle said. “If they don’t enforce it, then we (lawmakers) can’t enforce it.”

Ingle said the usefulness of a curfew is strongly dependent on the population of a town as well as the number of officers the location can afford to put on the streets.

“It is just one of those things that is easy to talk about,” Ingle said, “but hard to do.”

Sgt. Daron Roach of the Clovis Police Department said Clovis does see a temporary rise in juvenile crime during summer months.

“Usually if kids are out late they’re usually doing something they’re not supposed to be doing,” Roach said. But he said he did not know if a curfew would help resolve any problems.

Roach said the department tries to make contact with anyone on the streets late, including children. If officers make contact with children, they also make an effort to contact the parents, he said.

Gov. Martinez told the Albuquerque Journal that she supports letting communities decide whether to impose curfews and plans to include a curfew measure for the Legislature’s 30-day session that begins in January.

Martinez said she made the decision after speaking with Albuquerque city leaders who are looking for ways to combat violent juvenile crime that has occurred in early morning hours.

Clovis had a teen curfew until 2000, when it was scrapped after Albuquerque lost a court case. The American Civil Liberties Union sued Albuquerque over its teen curfew law, and the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled curfews cannot establish criminal penalties for juvenile activity when the same activity is fine for adults.

“We don’t have a juvenile curfew ordinance because it’s not authorized,” Clovis City Attorney David Richards said. “A juvenile has the same rights as any other citizen. They cannot be involuntarily apprehended unless they’re violating the law.”

Richards said police can tell kids to “break it up and go home,” but as long as they are abiding by the law, they cannot be arrested.

Portales has a teen curfew on the books, but police said it’s not used.

Portales Police Chief Pat Gallegos said officers only notify parents when children are in violation. He said he has no way to know if the curfew makes any dent on juvenile crime rates.

Enrique Cabrals, a sophomore at Portales High School, said he thinks a juvenile curfew would not be effective

“Nobody abides by it,” Cabrals said, “and having a curfew makes more kids that are out at night in trouble (only) because they are out past a certain time — even though they aren’t causing any trouble.”

He disagrees with the idea that most people who are out late are getting into trouble. He said he could understand a curfew in extreme situations, such as when a violent criminal is on the loose, but not as a standard procedure.

— Staff writer Brittney Cannon contributed to this report.