On Friday police brought in two girls ages fifteen and sixteen after finding them out socializing on Glenn Street in Belize City after curfew hours. After their parents were contacted, the girls' 48 year old mother was arrested and charged for allowing a child to be in a public place between the hours of 8 pm to 6 am. This curfew for underage city residents started when Chester Williams took over as Commander of Southside Police and he told us more about why its enforcement is important...
ACP. Chester Williams, Commander. Southside Police
"Well you will know that since I took over the division in July of last year, we have been saying that the issue of children roaming the streets of Belize City is an issue and it was one that we had been addressing. First we began with the issuance of a warning letter to parents whose children were found on the streets between the hours of 9pm and 6am. As time progressed, we did pick up a number of children an issued a number of warnings, but it seemed as if some parents are still in the habits of wanting the streets to raise their children. When things go wrong with the kids on the streets, then they began to point fingers at the police, the government, social department, everywhere but themselves. So, we decided to stop issuing warnings because we cannot always be warning people. We need to begin to take parents to court who for some reason or the other, allow their child to be on a public street between the hours of 9pm and 6am unsupervised. We have arrested a number of persons for this matter before, some of whom has been convicted including the one who got arrested over the weekend. She had been arrested before, and we've also had instances where minors were found committing burglaries during the wee hours of the morning when they should be at home. Again in those instances the parents were charged. This is what we have to do to make parents understand that it is their duty and responsibility to take care of their kids."
After minors are picked up, police and the human services department launched an investigation into their home situation and decide the best course of action for their safety.
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