Beer Parties Cited : Police Plan Talks With Teen-Agers on Curfew Law

Lisa Zimmerman, 17, thinks people shouldn’t be alarmed if she occasionally stays out late at a house party where there are several hundred teen-age friends and maybe even some beer.

“We don’t have the money to go to a movie every night,” said Zimmerman, of Chatsworth. “That’s what the cops want us to do.”

But concern over the continuing problem of large beer parties attracting hundreds of teen-agers has prompted Los Angeles police to arrange classroom visits at five northwest San Fernando Valley public high schools.

In November, a detective will tell students why police enforce the city’s 86-year-old curfew ordinance, which prohibits those under 18 from being out without a parent or guardian after 10 p.m. unless they are coming from a public event or a job, said Lt. Rick Violano of the Police Department’s Devonshire Division. Officers have the authority to determine whether a young person has a legitimate purpose for being out after curfew.

Large Parties

Police said they dispersed several large house parties in the northwest Valley this summer in an area that includes Chatsworth, Northridge and part of Sepulveda.

“It’s nothing new,” said Violano, whose patrol car was overturned by a rowdy group of teen-agers 15 years ago. “What’s different about it is we’re trying to prevent kids from getting in trouble. . . . Some of them do not understand what curfew is.”

“Things have a way of building over time,” Capt. Mark Stevens said. “Some of these things have been enough of a problem where they’ve hinged on being violent or partially violent, and certainly terrorized the community with people drinking, urinating and fighting after they’ve had too much to drink.”

Police met Sept. 28 with administrators from Aggeler, Monroe, Kennedy, Chatsworth and Granada Hills high schools to suggest the curfew lectures.

And on Oct. 27, Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson is scheduled to hold a meeting with police, city parks officials and business and community leaders to develop teen-age weekend activities that are “safe and enjoyable,” a Bernson spokeswoman said.

The primary reason for enforcing the curfew is to cut down on alcohol use and drunk driving by teen-agers, Violano said. Moreover, teen-agers out late at night can run into unsavory young adults who might harm them or try to sell them drugs, he said.

A juvenile would not be violating curfew by being inside a house at a private party, but large crowds inevitably spill into the streets and lead to people loitering outside and cruising in their cars, Violano said.

Outside a Sept. 10 house party in Chatsworth, police arrested 60 teen-agers for curfew violations and possession of alcohol, Sgt. Paul Haberman said. In all but a few of those cases, police released the teen-agers to the custody of their parents, who were counseled about the curfew law. Repeat offenders are referred to the county Probation Department for prosecution in Juvenile Court.

The Sept. 10 party was a birthday bash that got out of control because 500 people arrived after word got out that a popular disc jockey group was playing music there, Officer William Vaughan said.

Shy Boys

Vaughan said the disc jockey group, known as Shy Boy Productions, has drawn crowds of several hundred young people to West Valley house parties in the past year. The large crowds have been difficult to control and have increased the traffic, parking and litter problems normally associated with the parties, he said.

Zimmerman and her friends, who gathered during a recent lunch break outside Stoney Point High School, a Chatsworth continuation high school, said they each had attended at least one party sponsored by the Shy Boys. They go to the parties, they said, because there is little else exciting to do in the West Valley.

“The Shy Boys are one of the best parties around,” said John Moore, 21, of Chatsworth. “There is beer there, and they try to keep it cool, but there are idiots that come and get out of control.”

Arnold Pena, founder of the Shy Boys, said the 20-member group organizes some parties but merely supplies music, not alcohol. It is illegal to serve beer to those under 21.

Pena said Los Angeles city officials should take a cue from Simi Valley, which last year opened a school district parking lot as a weekly teen-age hangout.

“They’re not letting the kids get together anywhere,” Pena said. “At 10:02, they bust up the party and take us to jail. That’s terrible.”

Last month, Vaughan persuaded the manager of the Country Club, a Reseda night club, to cancel a Sept. 11 party for which the Shy Boys had rented the facility.

The lieutenant admits that inducing teen-agers to accept the curfew restrictions will be an uphill struggle. But he added, “if I can get one third of them to comply, it’ll be a lot easier.”