YOU ASKED

You asked: Is there a curfew in Brookhaven?

Yes, there is a curfew.

According to a social media post from the City of Brookhaven, Mayor Joe Cox and Board of Aldermen passed a curfew in 2022 to combat everything from general disturbances and thefts to assaults and homicides committed by and against juveniles.

The administration decided a curfew was needed within the city limits to help protect kids “from each other and from others on the streets during nocturnal hours, to aid in crime prevention, to promote supervision and authority over minors, and to decrease juvenile crime rates.”

That curfew ordinance took effect Jan. 1, 2023. Then a year later, they passed another ordinance outlining consequences and fines for juveniles and prosecution of custodial parents.

Curfew times are Sunday through Thursday from 11 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. and Friday and Saturday from midnight until 5:30 a.m. However, several exceptions and exemptions were included. Juveniles aren’t breaking curfew if they are with parents, under adult supervision with parental permission, traveling to or coming from a school or church activity, or traveling to or from a place of employment.

Police Chief Kenneth Collins said Monday that having a curfew in place is not enough. Parents need to be accountable for their children’s actions. He recommends guardians and parents be charged a $200 fine the first time their child is caught breaking a curfew.

The second time, the parents should be charged under the existing law of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, plus that fine, he said.

“If the child is caught a third time — shooting people, shooting up the neighborhood — the parent or guardian will be charged with negligence,” he said. “Because until we hold these guardians and parents accountable for their kids, it’s not going to get any better.”

Collins, whose last day in office is June 30, said juveniles are out at all hours of the night shooting at each other, and others are “going into people’s cars and stuff at 3, 4, and 5 in the morning” and “making videos with big guns and smoking dope.

“How in the world is it that you don’t know your children are doing these criminal acts?”

In March 2024, the board passed a second ordinance that says juveniles violating the curfew are guilty of a misdemeanor and can be put in detention or given public service up to 48 hours and juvenile probation up to three months — which may include electronic monitoring and a fine of anywhere from $50 to $250.

On a second offense, detention would extend up to five days; probation up to six months; and fine of $100 to $500. Third and subsequent offenses would increase penalties to a maximum of 10 days detention; probation up to 12 months; and a fine of $250 to $1,000.

Any of the detention periods “may be suspended in whole or in part.”

Custodial parents can be prosecuted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

According to BPD Commander Jonathan Hart, under the ordinance as written, no juveniles or custodial parents have been prosecuted or fined for violating the curfew.

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