Dear Editor;
I for one welcome the idea of a curfew for our town. The fact that our town councilors are looking at implementing this bylaw is an acknowledgement that we are no longer a “little innocent” small town. This recognition has been a long time in coming but I guess that it is better late than never.
I can say that my neighborhood would benefit greatly from a curfew. In the past couple of months we have seen increased acts of theft and vandalism from the age group, which is targeted by this curfew. Although we have reported these crimes the RCMP have little that they can do to stop it because if the miscreants aren’t caught in the act there is little that can be done. Even if the youth are caught committing these crimes they are protected by the Young Offenders Act (YOA) and receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist. And if the youth are really young the YOA won’t even touch them and anything the RCMP tries to do to rein them in is just a joke.
It seems logical to me that people who cannot be held responsible for their actions do not belong on the streets running free and unsupervised. The one change that I would make to the Bylaw is that it apply to anyone who is younger than 18. Taking the young children off of the streets will also reduce the market for illicit drugs in our community and it will also restrain the spread of gang activity here and keep the gang members from being able to recruit and use young people in the commission of their crimes.
It is unfortunate to say but we have more than a few parents who are not responsible for their children and because of parental shortcomings the town must make a law, which calls these parents to behave responsibly.
Julian Ross Hudson,
Ponoka, AB