Safety during the summer and keeping teenagers out of trouble. Those were some of the topics addressed among Lafayette law enforcement and the community.
One of the key points up for discussion during Monday night’s meeting is a curfew for teenagers under 17.
Although all agencies are behind the reinforcement, some community members say it needs to be reevaluated.
"My concern is say for instance if he's caught out late at night, he's a good kid and you take him through that process."
The curfew for those 17 and younger is from 11:00PM to 6:00AM Monday through Thursday and starting at midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Some parents have concerns.
"I don't want him to be arrested and then he's got a full sheet that will follow him everywhere he goes for being arrested for that one incident. For staying out late. That's the only conflict I have with it and I feel the parents need to be more involved a little more and let them be more responsible."
Lafayette Police Chief Thomas Glover defends the curfew and says the department has received numerous calls about trouble with teens out after hours.
"As the chief of police, it is vitally important that I make sure that the Lafayette community is safe but also that we have some type of control in terms of making sure our juvenile crime is nonexistent or very low. That's one of the tools that we have and that's the curfew,” said Glover.
Other community members called for more visibility when it comes to community policing.
"We can make our community safer by working together through crime prevention,” said Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mark Garber.
All the agencies plan to use the feedback given to them from the community to help reduce crime in the city.
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