A lot has been made about the curfew that county leaders say Prince George鈥檚 County, Maryland, police will begin strictly enforcing again this weekend. But some of the county鈥檚 biggest municipal departments won鈥檛 be involved in it.
鈥淚n Bowie we have the city charter that does not allow us to enforce Prince George鈥檚 County ordinances,鈥� said Bowie Police Chief John Nesky.
Police in Greenbelt say they operate in a similar manner and will take a similar stance this weekend.
鈥淭he city council looked at it and we鈥檙e not going to be doing anything as a parallel ordinance under the city,鈥� Nesky added.
鈥淚 understand where they鈥檙e (Prince George鈥檚 County) coming from; I understand the reasoning behind it,鈥� said Nesky. But he鈥檚 also worried that curfew enforcement efforts could set back the efforts in recent years aimed at reducing police interactions over civil offenses.
鈥淲hat kind of positions are we putting our officers in, addressing a youth that may be on the street — that may be a youth or may not be a youth; we鈥檙e not sure of age or anything else — and what if that person refuses to give that information, is uncooperative?,” the chief said. “How far does the officer take it to look at what is basically a civil infraction?鈥�
Hyattsville Police Chief Jarod Towers sees some of the same concerns.
鈥淎t the end of the day, we鈥檙e going to enforce any law; it鈥檚 our duty to do so,鈥� he said. However, 鈥淲e can鈥檛 just stop people and verify their age and say 鈥楬ow old are you; what are you doing on the street?鈥�”
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to be increasing our enforcement efforts to focus on targeting people out after certain hours just to verify their age,鈥� he added.
But the chiefs added that teenagers shouldn鈥檛 think they鈥檒l be able to get away with whatever they want either.
Hypothetically, if some teenagers are out at 1 a.m., 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 preclude the officer from finding out if there鈥檚 any criminal activity happening; we just won鈥檛 be enforcing the curfew, per se. We are going to engage based upon probable cause for criminal activity,鈥� Nesky said.
鈥淚f we come into contact with individuals through other means, and learn that they鈥檙e in violation of the curfew, we鈥檒l advise them and warn them,鈥� said Towers.
He also warned young people that the county police have “concurrent jurisdiction” through all the county’s municipalities, so they could enforce the curfew.
Towers also had his doubts that the curfew would keep criminals inside, anyway.
鈥淭he violent offenders who are in our community victimizing our residents are not going to abide by a curfew,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, they鈥檙e committing felonies; they鈥檙e committing crimes. Why are they going to have any extra concern for a civil action?鈥�
Nesky applauded county leaders for trying something, but he didn鈥檛 exactly endorse the curfew idea either.
鈥淚 understand the reasoning — we have to do something to try and drive these juvenile [crime] numbers down,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey need to do something to drive these numbers down. We all do. It鈥檚 just a difference in opinion on strategy.鈥�
