HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-02-1997 Special Council Mtg CITY OFAUBURN
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AUBURN CITYCOUNCIL
June 2, 1997 5:30 PM
Minutes
The Special Meeting of the Auburn City Council convened at 5:35 p.m., Monday,
June 2, 1997 in the Council Work Area at Auburn City Hall. Those in attendance
included Mayor Booth and the following members of the City Council: Rich
Wagner, Trish Borden, Sue Singer, Jeanne Barber, Gene Cerino, and Stacey
Brothers. Councilmember Fred Poe was excused from the meeting. Staff
members present included: City Attorney Michael J. Reynolds, Assistant City
Attorney Judy Ausman, Finance Director Diane L. Supler, Police Chief Dave
Purdy, Parks and Recreation Director Dick Deal, and City Clerk Robin
Wohlhueter.
I. Introduction
Mayor Booth briefly explained the purpose of this evening's special meeting is to
provide an opportunity to brief the Council on juvenile crime statistics and to
discuss further development of a curfew ordinance. The meeting is informational
only, and the Council will not take action on any issues during the meeting.
Assistant City Attorney Judy Ausman presented background information and
related data with regard to the development of a curfew ordinance in the city of
Auburn.
II. Crime/Juvenile Statistics
Utilizing an overhead slide, Assistant City Attorney Ausman presented charts
which include statistics on the number of arrests arising from incidents during
proposed curfew hours, number of arrests by age, and the number of juvenile
felony arrests. (The charts are attached as part of these minutes.) Ms. Ausman
explained the data was compiled by the Auburn Police Department for the year
1995 and January through October 1996. There were 612 juvenile arrests in
1995 and 500 juvenile arrests during the first ten months of 1996. Five
alternative curfew hour scenarios were presented, and the juvenile arrests were
segregated between curfew hours and all other times according to the time of
the incident which resulted in the arrest.
Assistant City Attorney Ausman reported that the Curfew "A" scenario, which
provides for a curfew from 10 PM to 6 AM, Sunday through Thursday and 11 PM
to 6 AM Friday and Saturday, is similar to the curfew ordinance enacted in Dallas
and which was recently upheld in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Minutes ofthe Special Meeting ofthe Auburn City Council
June 2,1997
Page 2
A comparison of curfew scenarios C, D. and E indicate that more incidents which
give rise to an arrest occur between the hours of 11:00 PM and 12:00 midnight
than 5:00 AM and 6:00 AM, Sunday through Saturday.
Councilmember Brothers inquired whether a comparison has been made of the
total number of adult arrests to juvenile arrests for the same time period.
Assistant City Attorney Ausman reported no comparison was made. Chief Purdy
advised there were over 38,000 arrests in 1996. Councilmember Brothers noted
juvenile incidents occur at the average rate of approximately 50 per month.
Assistant City Attorney Ausman reviewed the charts identifying the number of
juvenile arrests by age and the number of juvenile felony arrests for 1995 and
the first ten months of 1996.
Councilmember Brothers questioned whether any statistics exist which show the
potential number of citations for curfew violations if a curfew had been in place.
Chief Purdy responded that no statistics exist. Assistant City Attorney Ausman
noted that the draft curfew ordinance is a civil ordinance and a curfew violation
would be a civil infraction. She quoted some statistics on the type of felony
arrests which occurred in 1995 and 1996.
1995 1996 (Jan-Oc0
Assault (1, 2,' and 3) 23 14
Possession of Stolen Property 37 13
Malicious Mischief (B & C) 18 2
Councilmember Brothers questioned whether any statistics exist which reflect
the number of juveniles who are victimized on the streets during the same time
periods. Assistant City Attorney Ausman responded that data on the number of
juvenile victims was. not compiled.
III. LegalIssues
Assistant City Attorney Ausman distributed copies of the draft curfew ordinance
for discussion and copies of R.C.W. 35.21.635 which provides authority for
implementation of a curfew ordinance. City Attorney Reynolds distributed copies
of the Court of Appeals, Division One decision issued today regarding the
Bellingham curfew Ordinance.
Minutes ofthe Special Meeting ofthe Auburn City Council
June 2,1997
Page 3
Assistant City Attorney Ausman noted that the draft ordinance contains several
findings. If the Council determines to pursue the enactment of a curfew
ordinance, a public hearing would be held at which time public testimony and
information can be presented. The City Council would make findings based
upon the public testimony and information received at the hearing.
IV. Enforcement Issues
See Item V., Draft Ordinance, for discussion of enforcement issues.
V. Draft Ordinance
Assistant City Attorney Ausman explained the draft ordinance is substantially
based upon the Dallas and Tacoma curfew ordinances. She reviewed the draft
ordinance section by section' beginning with definitions in Section 9.50.070 on
page 8. She noted the following terms require further defining by the Council:
Curfew Hours, Guardian, and Juvenile. She reported the City of Tacoma defines
a juvenile as any unemancipated minor under the age of 18 and the City of
Dallas defines a juvenile as any unemancipated minor under the age of 17.
Section 9.50.020 of the ordinance describes curfew offenses. A minor commits
an offense if he or she remains in any public place or on the premises of any
establishment within the City during curfew hours. A parent or guardian commits
an offense if he or she knowingly permits or by insufficient control allows the
juvenile to be out or the parent or guardian fails to appear to take the juvenile
into custody after contact with the police department. An offense also occurs if
the owner or operator of an establishment encourages or affirmatively facilitates
a violation by a juvenile or knowingly allows a minor to remain upon the premises
of the establishment during curfew hours.
Section 9.50.030 of the draft ordinance includes ten (10) defenses for the
juvenile. The defenses for the juvenile include:
1. accompanied by-choice of language: "the juvenile's parent,
guardian, or extended family member who is not also a minor", or "accompanied
by the juvenile's parent, legal guardian or other responsible person who is __
years of age or older" and approved by the juvenile's parent, guardian, custodian
or other adult person having custody or control of the juvenile to accompany said
juvenile; or
Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Auburn City Council
June Z, 1997
Page 4
2. on an errand at the direction of the juvenile's parent or guardian, or
other adult person having custody or control of the juvenile without any
unnecessary detour or stop, or
3. in a motor vehicle involved in interstate travel with the consent of a
parent, guardian, custodial or other adult person having custody or control of the
juvenile through the state of Washington; or
4. engaged in a legal employment activity, or going to or returning
home from a legal employment activity without any unnecessary detour or stop;
or
5. involved in an emergency, or
6. on the sidewalk abutting the juvenile's residence or abutting the
residence of a next-door neighbor, if the neighbor did not complain to the police
department; or
7. attending, going to, or returning home without any detour or
unnecessary stop, from an official school, religious or other activity supervised by
adults or sponsored by any of the following: the City of Auburn, a civic
organization, the BOys and Girls Clubs, the YVVCA, the YMCA, King County, or
other similar entity which takes responsibility for the juvenile, or a place of
entertainment, such as a movie, play or sporting event; or
Councilmember Wagner expressed concern that the provision "other similar
entity which takes responsibility for the juvenile" is too broad and suggested it be
changed to read "other similar entity which takes responsibility for supervision of
the juvenile".
8. exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United States
Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, and the
right of assembly; or
9. married and, thus, has achieved the age of majority, or has
become emancipated; or
10. engaged in lawful commercial activity which was commenced prior
to curfew hours and the juvenile proceeds directly home, without any detour or
unnecessary stop, upon termination of the commercial activity.
Minutes ofthe Special Meeting ofthe Auburn City Council
June 2,1997
Page 5
A parent defense is provided in cases where the parent or guardian is
reasonably hindered that he or she is unable to appear and take custody of the
juvenile when requested to do so. A defense is also provided for the person or
operator of the establishment if they have notified the police department that the
juveniles are present and have refused to leave.
There was discussion among members of the City Council regarding the curfew
offense by a person or operator of an establishment and the defense for a
person' or operator of an establishment. It was suggested that paragraph "D"
under Offenses be changed to read:
"A person or operator, as defined herein, commits an offense if that
person or operator encourages, or affirmatively facilitates a violation of
this ordinance by a juvenile or knowingly allows a minor to remain upon
the promises of the ostablishmont during c, urfow hours."
The ordinance's enforcement section, contained in Section 9.50.040 of the draft
ordinance, requires the police officer to issue a citation only if the officer
reasonably believes an offense has occurred and no defense is present.
The ordinance contains a temporary custody procedure under Section 9.50.050.
The temporary custody procedure provides the options for where the juvenile
curfew offender will be taken after being taken into custody by the police
department. Assistant City Attorney Ausman noted that the temporary custody
options for when a juvenile cannot be released to a parent, guardian, custodian,
or an extended family member have not been identified yet. Possible
alternatives may be that the juvenile shall remain at the police department until
the parent appears to take responsibility for the juvenile or referred to an
appropriate facility of the Department of Social and Health Services. The City of
Tacoma provides that juveniles may be taken to the police department or fire
stations.
Section 9.50.060 of the ordinance addresses violations and penalties. A
violation of the curfew ordinance is considered a civil infraction and is subject to
a fine in an amount to be determined by the Council. Community service hours
may be required in lieu of a monetary fine. City Attorney Ausman advised that
one sample city ordinance provides that the first infraction shall be a warning
only. Suggestions. for the amount of court costs to be assessed with each
violation are pending further discussions with the judge, Personnel Director
Kennedy, and other jurisdictions.
Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Auburn City Council
June 2, 1997
Page 6
Councilmember Brothers questioned potential city liability for delivering custody
of a juvenile to an unsafe guardian or custodian. Assistant City Attorney
Ausman responded that there is always a question of liability in particular
circumstances. She advised that she is unaware of any problems with other
jurisdictions' enforcement of curfew ordinances other than the City of Bellingham.
Councilmember Singer suggested contracting with Auburn Youth Resources as
an alternate temporary custody facility for curfew offenders and charge the
expense back to the parents. Assistant City Attorney Ausman agreed to
investigate the suggestion.
Councilmember Wagner reported he learned from Mayor Rants of Tukwila that
the City of Tukwila has approximately three juvenile cases per year where the
juvenile cannot be returned to a parent or guardian.
In response to a question from Councilmember Brothers, Assistant City Attorney
Ausman explained that the draft ordinance presented this evening is patterned
substantially from the cities of Tacoma and Dallas ordinances. However, the
violations section of the ordinance is patterned after the City of Bellingham
ordinance.
Section 9.50.070 addresses third party liability. This section provides that the
City, in passing the ordinance, does not guarantee that enforcement will be 100
percent and leaves discretion to law enforcement in enforcing the ordinance. In
reviewing the language of Section 9.50.070, Councilmember Brothers
questioned whether the intent of the ordinance is to protect the juveniles from
harm or punish juveniles. Assistant City Attorney Ausman explained that the
Council will need to determine its goals and objectives for implementing a curfew
ordinance.
Section 9.50.080 of the draft ordinance provides evaluation of the effectiveness
of the ordinance.
VI. Discussion
Councilmember Borden inquired whether the City has statistics on children as
victims of crime. Assistant City Attorney Ausman and Chief Purdy explained that
the existing record system does not provide easy access to the data, and each
case would need to be read and the data manually extracted.
Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Auburn City Council
June 2, 1997
Page 7
In response to a question from Councilmember Singer, Assistant City Attorney
Ausman agreed that the City needs to determine there is a compelling need for
the curfew ordinance. Generally, courts have determined that government
entities have an interest in the well-being of their youth as well as the well-being
of the general public. The ordinance should provide the least restrictive means
for accomplishing the goal. Assistant City Attorney Ausman advised that federal
courts have upheld a curfew ordinance, and that she will need to review the
recent Court of Appeals decision with regard to the Bellingham curfew ordinance.
There are approximately 30 curfew ordinances in effect in the state of
Washington at this time, and Ms Ausman is unaware of any other court
challenges at this time.
City Attorney Reynolds encouraged the Council to review the Court of Appeals
Division 1 decision.
VII. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
Approved on the/~ ~ day of . ,1997.
Charles A. Booth, Mayor Robin Wohlhueter, City Clerk
g7M6-02A. DOC
ARRESTS ARISING FROM INCIDENTS DURING PROPOSED
CURFEW HOURS
1 995 (Jan-Dec) 1996 (Jan-Oct)
612 Juv. Arrests 500 Juv. Arrests
% of Total % of Total
Day(s) Time(s) Juv, Arrests Juv, Arrests Juv, Arrests Juv, Arrests
CURFEW Sun.-Th. 10PM-6AM 132 22% 75 15%
A Fri.-Sat. 11PM-6AM 45 7% 30 6%
CURFEW A totals 177 29% 105 21%
NON-CURFEW (all other times) 435 ~ 71% 395 ~ 79%
CURFEW Sun.-Th. 10PM-5AM 122 20% 73 15%
B Fri.-Sat. 11PM-5AM 44 7% 30 6%
CURFEW B totals 166 27% 103 21%
NON-CURFEW (all other times) 446 I 73% 397 I 79%
Sun.~Sat. 12AM-6AM '130 21% 65 13%
CURFEW C
NON-
Sun.-Sat. 6AM-12AM 482 79% 435 87%
CURFEW
Sun..-Sat 11PM-6AM 166 27% 97 19%
CURFEW D
NON-
Sun.-Sat. 6AM-11PM 446 73% 403 81%
CURFEW
Sun.-Sat. 11PM-5AM 155 25% 95 19%
CURFEW E
NON-
Sun.-Sat. 5AM-11PM 457 75% 405 81%
CURFEW
Preliminary Review for
Discussion Purposes 6/2/97
NUMBER OF ARRESTS BY AGE
1995 (Jan-Dec) 1996 (Jan-Oct)
612 Juv. Arrests 500 Juv. Arrests
% of Total % of Total
Juv. Juv. Juv. Juv.
Age Arrests Arrests Arrests Arrests
<12 18 3% 36 7%
12 27 5% 33 7%
13 106 17% 55 11%
14 105 17% 76 15%
15 137 22% 90 18%
16 110 18% 121 24% ,.
17 109 18% 89 18%
Total: 612 100% 500 100%
NUMBER OF FELONY ARRESTS
1995 (Jan-Dec) 1996 (Jan-Oct)
612 Juv. Arrests 500 Juv. Arrests
% of Total % of Total
Juv. Juv. Juv. Juv.
Arrests Arrests Arrests Arrests
Felony 168 27% 98 20%
Drug 11 2% 12 2%
Preliminary Review for
Discussion Purposes 6/2/97