City plans time limits

Hoping to curtail the problem of truancy, or absence without permission, in schools, the Richmond Police Department (RPD) has suggested a citywide curfew.

The newly proposed Daytime Curfew Ordinance will apply to the time period of a half hour after the school day begins to a half hour before it ends, by the issuance of a non-criminal infraction citation that can be levied as high as $500 by a Juvenile Court judge.

RPD Lt. Mark Gagan said the Daytime Curfew Ordinance is not final and has many areas needing to be worked out.

According to the City of Richmond Agenda Report of March, 18 2010, this recommended ordinance seeks to divert young people from becoming involved in daytime juvenile crime and victimization, reduce truancy and render needed services to them and their families.

"The Daytime Curfew Ordinance, which allows officers to cite truants and guardians, is not a new approach," Gagan said. "It is used in many states and cities, and Richmond is one city that has not been on board with it."

Cities such as Hercules, Pinole and Benicia are all nearby communities that have enacted such an ordinance, and feedback from these communities indicates such a process has been effective in decreasing daytime juvenile crime and victimization, Gagan said.

Minors found in public places during their school hours (other than permissible exceptions), he said, will be turned over to a parent or legal guardian with a non-criminal infraction citation issued.

If there is not a parent or guardian available, the minor would be transported to a designated attendance center and stay until released to their parent or guardian, according to the agenda report. In either instance, the report indicates, they will still be issued the infraction citation and must appear before a Juvenile Court traffic judge.

"This process goes a step further than others through what is called an ‘intake process,' which addresses issues and concerns and seeks to get parents and guardians more involved, to educate them both," Gagan said.

Many see the plan as a win toward deterring kids from wandering within the community.

"When kids are out in the community, they become tempted and get involved in misbehavior," Richmond City Council member Nathaniel Bates said. "Hopefully, this will reduce those activities."

According to research performed through the California Senate Public Safety Committee in February, truancy correlates with criminal activity, even at the elementary school level, and that later in life, these same students shown to be chronically truant can become juvenile delinquents involved in gangs, drug and alcohol abuse.

The number of truants per day has continued to rise, according to the research, thus causing less money to become available to the schools as a result.

There is an approximate 10–15 percent truancy rate, which averages out to 150-500 truants per week from the West Contra Costa United School District, Gagan said.

"A recent ‘truancy sweep' over three days resulted in 425 school-aged young people being picked up for truancy in Richmond," he said. "Money that would typically get reimbursed to the schools from the state through  ‘Average Daily Attendance' (ADA) is being lost as a result of the high number of truancy, which could have gone to such things as after school care, job training and pre-natal care for young people."

The proposed plan will work according to the police's discretion, based on the circumstances of handling the matter as a truancy violation and returning them to school or by citing them for violation of the Daytime Curfew Ordinance, RPD Chief Chris Magnus said.

"Minors that are cited for the Daytime Curfew Ordinance may be taken home or dropped off at one of the proposed Attendance Centers," he said. "It is at these centers where a preliminary safety and wellness assessment will be conducted."

The individual would remain at this center for the remainder of the school day or until a parent or guardian picks them up, Magnus said.

The Richmond Police Activities League (RPAL), a nonprofit corporation providing access to a wide variety of activities for youth in the community of West Contra Costa County, is currently a drop-off site when the police department conducts its periodic truancy sweeps, Executive Director of RPAL Larry Lewis said.

"Kids will be brought to PAL and eventually picked up by the parent or guardian. We'll also arrange follow up with that family," Lewis said. "We created truancy sweeps a while ago where the police and the school were fully involved. The kids conformed, and I believe they could do this today with the proper tools in place."

RYSE Center co-Director Kanwarpal Ehaliwal said, as a proposed intake center, that RPAL will use its present model for children, because it works.

"We have a model that is successful throughout their lives," Ehaliwal said. "It will require multiple systems to work.

"We will find out what's going on, identify other specific issues, as well as connect them to any other resources needed," he said.

Ehaliwal concluded by saying that she believes this new program will be successful if the key stakeholders partner together in determining how the young people will ultimately benefit.

There is a concern, however, about law enforcement taking a lead role in the process.

"Concerns such as criminalizing the kids or racial profiling are some key areas that have been expressed," Gagan said. "However, our key concern is a process going forth that will help truants get back on track, as well as get case managers involved to provide help for them as well as their families."

Lewis said it is not that hard in getting these people back on track.

"They just need the right people doing the right thing for them, with a message that says, ‘I care about you; this is what we are going to do together.'"

Contact Cassandra Juniel at cjuniel.advocate@gmail.com