INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Metropolitan police responded after a large crowd of juveniles gathered downtown early Friday morning.
IMPD officers were called to the area near Meridian and Washington after the juveniles gathered around 2 a.m., well after downtown’s July 4 fireworks had concluded.
The state curfew law is in effect, meaning anyone 15 or under is supposed to be home between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Teens between the ages of 15 and 17 face the same curfew on weeknights, although they can stay out until 1 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
“I have no idea why they were hanging out this late,” said Capt. Don Weilhammer with IMPD. “It’s not right for juveniles to be downtown without being supervised by their parents.”
Weilhammer said there were reports that some of the teens may have launched fireworks at officers.
“Thankfully, none of the officers were hurt. They were setting off fireworks right as [officers] were walking by, possibly trying to hit the officers,” he said.
IMPD initially made announcements urging the juveniles to leave the area and go home. When that didn’t work, police turned on their lights and sirens to get them to disperse.
Weilhammer said groups gathering together can lead to a dangerous situation, such as a shooting reported on the canal about an hour later.
“[The canal shooting] started out with a large disturbance, a large group of kids and adults down here. That’s why we try to disperse these crowds so that these things do not happen,” Weilhammer said.
Weilhammer said police made at least one arrest and recovered several firearms from Monument Circle. He couldn't say if the arrest involved an adult or juvenile.
Several cities statewide, including Indianapolis, have seen problems with juveniles violating curfew. Just a few months ago, seven juveniles ranging in age from 12 to 16 were injured in a mass shooting downtown. This is when police discussed enforcing stricter curfew laws but some community leaders say they haven’t seen much of a change.
“Personally, I have not seen any change,” said Kareem Hines, the founder of New B.O.Y, a youth mentoring program. “And we talk to the kids all the time, forget what I am saying, the kids are not seeing it [change]. I think we need to be more purposeful to make sure they see it.”
Community advocate Kareem Hines said she believes more needs to be done to enforce a stricter curfew.
“It sets boundaries,” she said. “It helps parents with accountability and it keeps our kids safe.”
The hope is that stricter enforcement will help curb the rising tide of youth violence.
“I would rather as a parent be inconvenienced to wake up by my bed to come pick up my child from downtown [who violated curfew] as opposed to getting a call waking me up in my bed telling me my child is dead,” Hines said.