Indiana implements new curfew
law for minors
By Heather Mangold
City
Editor
Students on campus who have not yet turned 18 may
have one more reason to stay out of harm's way at night.
According to a newly revised bill passed by the
Indiana House of Representatives, a new curfew for minors has been implemented.
House bill 1084 states that minors should be in by 11 p.m. during the
week and by 1 a.m. on weekends.
West Lafayette police chief Dan Marvin said no
special focus has been put on this law in the West Lafayette area or
on the Purdue campus.
"It's just not something we do a lot of," said
Marvin. "Usually during those hours we're usually busy with other activities."
Those other activities are what just may cause
minors to be concerned about the new curfew law.
According to Marvin, it is usually another action
that brings minors in contact with the police.
"Usually they were doing something else wrong to
make us recognize that they were not 18," said Marvin.
Tippecanoe County prosecutor Chuck Hagen agreed
that other charges usually bring a minor's age to attention.
Hagen said some minors do have reason to be out
past curfew hours. These situations, such as going to and from work,
participating in extra-curricular events or going to religious activities,
exclude minors from the possibility of getting into trouble with the
law.
Because very few minors are students at Purdue,
the curfew law may only pertain to a select few.
"From a practical standpoint, because of all the
young people we have in the community, we don’t have a situation
here where we are asking people how old they are, if they look like
they are on the border line of 17 or 18," said Marvin.
However, this is no reason for those students to
ignore the curfew law, said Marvin.
"Obviously they have to abide by all the laws,"
said Marvin. "If they are underage, they need to be abiding by the statutes
set before them."
Megan Ebert is a freshman in the School of Science.
She turned 18 on Saturday and said before then, the curfew law was not
something she was worried about during the two weeks since she has been
on campus.
"I mean, when you are at home, you have your parents
telling you what to do," said Ebert. "I think college is a time where
you should be able to do whatever you want."
Ebert said she thought she should be able to stay
out as late as all other college students.
"I think at college you should have the same rights
as everyone else," said Ebert.
The West Lafayette police department has made no
curfew violation arrests this year. In 1997, there were 44 curfew violation
contacts. In 1998, 13 contacts were made in the first 10 months of the
year. And in 1999, 26 curfew violations were made.
Marvin said the department couldn't spend large
amounts of time focusing on the law.
"We couldn't just go around campus asking everyone
for their identification," said Marvin. "We wouldn't get anything else
done."
Hagen said that even if a minor were caught by
police past the designated curfew hours, serious consequences probably
wouldn't be the result in most cases.
The new curfew law states that a police officer
must make "a good faith effort to release the child to the child's parents,
guardian or custodian."
"The law is a toll to prevent problems before they
actually happen," said Hagen. "You do have a right to hang out with
friends and go to and from work. You don't, however, have a right to
go out and be loud, obnoxious and rowdy."
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