14 DAY TRIAL // Miami-Dade County has enforced a curfew for residents under 17 years old, reports say. The curfew has been instituted this week, starting on Wednesday.
According to International Business Times, Miami-Dade Police Department reps describe that the curfew is meant to protect teenagers.
Asked if the decision is related to recent shootings in Miami, they completely deny the rumor, citing that similar restrictions are in place during summer holidays.
“It’s normally done when kids are out of school, and we’ve done it before ... usually during the summer months. [...] That’s when kids tend to stay out later and later,” Miami police spokesman Willie Moreno tells reporters.
Starting this week, Miami-Dade teens cannot go out between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. during weekdays. On Friday and Saturday, they can stay out one hour later, until midnight.
If they were to go outside, youngsters have to be accompanied by a parent, legal guardian or an adult over 21 years old who has legal permission to care for the child.
They cannot “linger, stay, congregate, move about, wander, or stroll in any public place in Miami-Dade County, either on foot or in a vehicle during curfew hours,” police sources tell NBC Miami.
In order to go out at night without an adult present, teenagers can get a permission from their parents to run errands, in writing. If teens have a job, and they need to travel for that job, they are also exempt from the curfew.
“I don't really need a curfew, but I do feel that a curfew is important because young kids like my age are dying in the streets,” reacts Team Pete Basketball player, Keith Davis.
“You know what's going on. [...] You got drug dealing, you got shootouts, kids getting killed left and right,” adds Team Pete's Pete Soriano.