DETROIT – The word of the day in the Detroit City Council’s meeting on Tuesday was “accountability” as they voted 7-1 in favor of the bill that will increase the fines on parents of kids who violate the city’s curfew.
“We cannot be a thriving city, and we have a 4-year-old’s blood shed in the street,” Councilman Coleman Young II said on Tuesday. He was the one who presented the bill that also eliminates jail time for parents of curfew violators.
“They were talking about locking people up for the second offense for 15 to 30 days, the third offense for 15 to 90 days in jail,” he said, “so we were able to get rid of all that.”
Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago Romero was the only “no” vote.
The bill’s passage means that fines for first-time violators increase from $75 to $250 and from $100 to $500 for the second offense, while also getting rid of jail time for parents.
This comes in what has been a particularly violent summer in the city of Detroit for children, with more than two dozen children having been either shot or killed by gun violence in the last 30 days.
This includes the June 27 incident where a 4-year-old and an 18-year-old were killed at Skinner Park near Denby High School, and a shooting on Sunday evening where a 6-year-old Rylee Love was killed by a stray bullet while he was eating in his home in Conant Gardens.
The fine increase, which is the city’s first since 1987, puts Detroit on par with other cities across the country.
- Philadelphia: Fines are up to $300
- New York City: Fines are $75 for Parents, $250 for Businesses
- Chicago: Fines are up to $250, along with Community Service
- Baltimore: Fines start at $50 but could jump to as much as $500
- Washington, D.C.: Fines range from $50 to $250
The high fines have brought questions about what happens when a parent or guardian cannot afford to pay the fines. Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said the fines are just another “tool in the toolbox” and said this is another way to hold parents accountable.
“If they take up the various courses to change behavior,” Bettison said, “they have the fines set aside, and so they have an option.”
This month, police have issued 158 curfew violations and 90 tickets to parents. Getting rid of the potential jail time was the biggest selling point for activists and police commissioners.
“We don’t believe that you can arrest your way out of these problems,” Teferi Brent, a minister at Detroit’s Fellowship Chapter, said. “There’s no situation or circumstance that contributes to poverty more so than the brother and sister or baby being murdered in the streets, or a parent being incarcerated for 30 to 90 days because of curfew violations.”
While acknowledging curfews are just one part of what needs to be a bigger plan to curb violence in the city, he says this is an important first step.
“We’re looking to leverage [the fine increase] and strongly encouraging parents to get the help and resources they need to address the root cause of these issues that contribute to our babies being in the streets at 11 to 12 o’clock at night,” he said, “when they’re only 14 to 16 years old, running around with Glocks, Glock switches and 32-clip Extendos”