Council Supports Revised Curfew Law

Ventura’s curfew law, not enforced since a June ruling raised legal concerns, could be reinstated in a modified form next month.

After a drawn-out discussion, the City Council voted unanimously Monday to introduce a new curfew law that would require minors to be off the streets by 10 p.m.

If given final approval next week, the ordinance would go into effect in mid-January.

Ventura’s nighttime juvenile curfew law has not been enforced since June, when a federal court ruled that a similarly worded law in San Diego was unconstitutional.

The law introduced Monday makes no change in the time of the curfew but slightly narrows its applicability. The new wording is based on a Texas law that has been upheld as constitutional.

The majority of crimes by minors are committed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., when the curfew would be in effect, according to Karl Berger, who works in the city attorney’s office.

Ventura Police Lt. Steve Bowman said the primary purpose of the curfew is to keep children safe.

The law “helps us remove potential victims,” he told the council. “We are trying to find a way to remove potential victims off the street.”

Julie Helm, the mother of a Ventura High School student, urged the council to make the curfew later on weekends.

“The purpose is to give muscle to the PD, and it punishes the deadbeat parents. And that’s a good thing,” she told the council. “But it doesn’t give positive reinforcement to the good kids.”

But after Bowman said a later curfew could make Ventura a magnet for youth from nearby communities with earlier curfews the council dropped the idea.