Lansing police to enforce curfew to curb youth violence
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Lansing police and city officials are reacting to another teen losing their life to gun violence by enforcing an existing minor curfew ordinance.
The change was shared during a press conference on the early Monday shooting that left 7 injured and 17-year-old Kylete Owens dead near Rotary Park. This is not the first time the city has heavily enforced the rule said to Randy Hannan, former chief of staff under Mayor Virg Bernero.
“More aggressive enforcement of a curfew was just one piece of, you know, wide range of measures that we tried to take to try and counteract the trend of youth violence,” said Hannan.
Lansing Police crime scene van on scene of mass shooting on Memorial Day. (WLNS) Crime scene tape blocks an area in downtown Lansing where a mass shooting occurred early on Memorial Day morning. (WLNS) Crime scene tape blocks an area in downtown Lansing where a mass shooting occurred early on Memorial Day morning. (WLNS)
He said years ago, the curfew was paired with efforts from school and faith leaders and gun buyback programs.
The current ordinance applies to children 12 years old and younger who they cannot be in public places without a parent or guardian from 10 pm to 6 am. For 13- to 16-year-olds, the curfew time is 12 am to 6 am.
This time, it’s being paired with tools like Advance Peace. The program is designed to engage people who are likely to take part in a cycle of violence. Through mentorship and skill training, facilitators hope to break that cycle.
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Paul Elam with the non-profit Michigan Public Health Institute and leads the Lansing iteration of Advance Peace. He agrees with the layered approach and said gun violence needs to be re-thought as a public health issue.
“We’re not saying that we don’t need to continue to deal with individuals through criminal justice system perspective,” he said. “We need to continue to do that, but we also need to get smarter in a public health approach and deal with the root causes of gun violence.”
Lansing city council member Adam Hussain backs the curfew and said there’s support to see more proactive efforts.
“We need to be stop being so dog gone reactionary and we need to start playing offense on this thing,” he said. Hussain said he is ready to review any changes to the ordinance that may be brought up to council.
Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane supports the idea of a curfew though he does question the enforcement of the rule. He said a look should be taken at furthering proactive efforts as the summer is just starting.
“Our law enforcement partners have to police these areas better. Advanced Peace needs to reach out to these individuals to try to set some type of peace agreement up because this will continue throughout the summer if we don’t get a handle on it,” said Dewane.
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