Prince George’s County council introduces juvenile curfew zone bill
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (DC News Now) — Prince George’s County council introduced a new bill that would allow commercial business owners in areas across the county to request juvenile curfew zones.
The act, introduced Tuesday, would allow businesses to submit an application to the police chief to create a zone.
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The legislation is aimed toward commercial business, defined in the bill as retail, entertainment and dining.
Businesses will also need their request to be approved by the district’s corresponding council member, as well as two third of other store owners within the zone to have approval.
Councilmember Edward Burroughs, who represents District 8, introduced the bill. He said he’s confident it’ll get passed through and implemented. He wanted to make it known that this isn’t nearly enough for the juvenile crime problem the county has been facing.
“At best, they are a band-aid to a much larger problem.” He said. “If we don’t significantly invest in young people and their ability to do productive things and have productive activities, we’re not going to get very far on the issue of juvenile crime.”
Advocates would agree.
“They need to find another type of band-aid, because this one isn’t.” community advocate, Sherman Hardy, said.
Hardy said that a potential downside could be a loss of police presence in potential areas.
“Do we specifically need a police officer there?” he said.
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Burroughs also believes there are other issues that deserve attention in other sectors.
“Where the attention should be, in my opinion, is what the county government is doing to engage young people in a constructive way,” he said. “After school, on the weekends and throughout the summer.”
The proposal now heads to a committee hearing before a public hearing. The council hopes to implement this before summer vacation.
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