Police propose daytime curfew

Costa Mesa police are proposing a daytime curfew to ensure kids are in school and to help curb gang activity.

But some residents say it unfairly burdens kids who aren’t breaking the rules, and it’s the wrong way to attack the problem.

City Council members got a preview of residents’ objections last week, and they can expect to hear more from both sides when they vote on a new truancy ordinance in coming months.

The daytime curfew is part of a multipronged initiative that’s intended to crack down on the city’s gang problem, which has grown significantly over the last decade.

Police want to address the problem by adding two officers to serve schools, installing crime surveillance cameras and boosting prevention efforts — including fighting truancy.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District records an average of 222 unexcused absences a day in all its schools, and two-thirds of those are from Costa Mesa schools, according to a report Costa Mesa Police Chief Christopher Shawkey gave the council March 13.

When students have repeated unexcused absences, the district requires their parents to meet with the Orange County District Attorney or the School Attendance Review Board, a county body, but a truancy ordinance — or daytime curfew — would be another tool to get kids in school, said Jane Garland, who coordinates the violence prevention program Project ASK for the district.

Costa Mesa police also endorse the curfew. It allows police to write tickets to kids caught out of school, who get a fine or community service. The threat of a ticket seems to have more effect psychologically on getting kids in class than the threat of facing a review board, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Clay Epperson said.

“Just the fact that the kids are aware that we’re watching and paying attention, we’re going to get a lot more compliance,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have to do a lot of enforcement of this law.”

But several parents who spoke to the Costa Mesa City Council last week gave a variety of reasons they oppose daytime curfews. They said many school-age children have legitimate reasons to be out of school during the day, and existing truancy rules aren’t always enforced.

As resident Jeff Morris told the council, “In a free society, people should not be concerned that they could be stopped by police at any time and have to prove that they are not violating the law.”

It’s unclear which way the council will lean, but police and school officials don’t seem swayed by the parents’ arguments.

“We have compulsory education in this state, so basically you don’t belong on the streets unless you can say, ‘I have a reason to be,’ ” Garland said.