Column: Don't let Iowa City curfew take our eyes off bigger picture

Iowa City's new juvenile curfew ordinance wouldn't have been so controversial if the driving force behind it hadn't been.

Yes, it's another half-step into our collective personal freedoms. But as half-steps go, it's a common one. Cedar Rapids, North Liberty and Coralville have hardly become police states just because of juvenile curfews, as Iowa City Police Sgt. Troy Kelsay pointed out to me on Tuesday.

As your parents probably told you way back when, there is little reason for young kids to be out in the wee hours. The ordinance includes exceptions for some of those legitimate activities, or for kids who are out while accompanied by a responsible adult.

After the ordinance takes effect on Dec. 23, 16- and 17-year-olds can't be out after midnight (11 p.m. for 14- and 15-year-olds and 10 p.m. for those 13 and younger).

But what brought the city to this point isn't an old fogy's generalized suspicion of what teenagers are up to after midnight.

What brought the issue to the city council's attention, what prompted councilors to narrowly approve the change after several months of discussion, was the sometimes violent crime and fighting on the city's southeast side over the past year.

Police have been upfront about the fact that they see the curfew not as an end in itself, but as a tool to help them solve, or prevent, other crimes.

That should come as a relief to neighbors who have been frustrated, angry, even scared by last summer's spike in crime.

The new ordinance gives officers probable cause to stop and identify kids who are roaming the streets at night - to ask a few questions.

Iowa City Police Chief Sam Hargadine has said he expects officers will give a lot more warnings than they will issue citations.

Kelsay agreed.

“It will be as much about gathering information as to who is out and moving around as it is enforcement,” he said.

Kelsay likened it to identifying drunk drivers through routine traffic stops. If nothing's amiss, he said he expects the interaction between patrol officers and late-bird juveniles to be brief, civil - even friendly. It's also a way to make sure parents know what their kids are up to after dark, he said.

But, right or no, critics already see the curfew as a blanket punishment for the misdeeds of a few.

Poorly handled, curfew enforcement could strengthen those impressions.

And how the curfew plays into the bigger picture of crime in Iowa City's southeast side ultimately will be determined by that little conversation among parents, patrol cop and kid.

Jennifer Hemmingsen's column appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Contact the writer at (319) 339-3154 or jennifer.hemmingsen@gazcomm.com