Detroit City Council increases fines for parents whose children break curfew
The item was a late addition to Tuesday's city council agenda, but it was one that had been expected. Police Chief Todd A. Bettison also asked in advance for an immediate vote. Six votes were required for it to pass.
"The newly approved ordinance aims to help mitigate violent crime and reduce teenage gun violence by increasing adult accountability," the city said in a social media post.
The idea of increasing curfew fines was introduced to the community during a July 7 press conference, during which Bettison and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan explained their summer safety teen violence prevention strategy. Some of the violent crimes during the early summer had taken place late at night and/or with the involvement of large groups of people nearby, and police promised to take a strict curfew enforcement approach as a prevention measure.
Between July 8 and 20, Detroit police issued 122 curfew violations, writing 68 parental responsibility tickets.
The City of Detroit's curfew law — known officially as the "Regulation of Minors in Public Places and Adult Responsibility for Violations" law — has been on the books since the mid-1980s. Anyone age 17 and younger is subject to the overnight curfew order, with those age 15 and younger expected inside at an earlier time.
"We don't want to fine anybody, but we have to get parents to take this very seriously," Duggan said earlier this summer.
Until now, a first-time offense has resulted in a fine of $75, with a repeat offense resulting in a $100 fine. Fines will now increase for a first-time offense to $250 and for a repeat offense to $500.
The Public Health and Safety Standing Committee met for nearly an hour on Monday to discuss the amendment on the fines, voting to send it on to the full council.
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CBS News
29-07-2025
- CBS News
Detroit City Council increases fines for parents whose children break curfew
The Detroit City Council voted Tuesday afternoon to increase fines for parents whose children violate the city's overnight curfew laws. The item was a late addition to Tuesday's city council agenda, but it was one that had been expected. Police Chief Todd A. Bettison also asked in advance for an immediate vote. Six votes were required for it to pass. "The newly approved ordinance aims to help mitigate violent crime and reduce teenage gun violence by increasing adult accountability," the city said in a social media post. The idea of increasing curfew fines was introduced to the community during a July 7 press conference, during which Bettison and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan explained their summer safety teen violence prevention strategy. Some of the violent crimes during the early summer had taken place late at night and/or with the involvement of large groups of people nearby, and police promised to take a strict curfew enforcement approach as a prevention measure. Between July 8 and 20, Detroit police issued 122 curfew violations, writing 68 parental responsibility tickets. The City of Detroit's curfew law — known officially as the "Regulation of Minors in Public Places and Adult Responsibility for Violations" law — has been on the books since the mid-1980s. Anyone age 17 and younger is subject to the overnight curfew order, with those age 15 and younger expected inside at an earlier time. "We don't want to fine anybody, but we have to get parents to take this very seriously," Duggan said earlier this summer. Until now, a first-time offense has resulted in a fine of $75, with a repeat offense resulting in a $100 fine. Fines will now increase for a first-time offense to $250 and for a repeat offense to $500. The Public Health and Safety Standing Committee met for nearly an hour on Monday to discuss the amendment on the fines, voting to send it on to the full council.
CBS News
14-07-2025
- CBS News
Detroit city leaders to consider increasing fines issued to parents of children arrested in violent crimes
As summer continues to heat up, the city of Detroit is in the midst of its summer safety teen violence prevention plan. During its launch earlier this month, city leaders shared their goal of addressing youth curfew violations after a surge in juvenile crime incidents this summer. "We're moving with a sense of urgency to ensure that we protect our most vulnerable members of this community," Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said. CBS News Detroit took a closer look and found that Mayor Mike Duggan's office wants to take a step further by increasing the amount of money that parents would be fined if their child is arrested. "We are going to emphasize the enforcement of curfew, because we don't want to have the kinds of shootings going on, the kinds of loss of life that we've had, the pain in this community," Duggan said. "We don't want to fine anybody, but we have to get parents to take this very seriously." Right now, a first-time offense only carries a fine of $75. If approved by City Council, Duggan wants to increase those penalties by nearly 200%, charging the parent a first-time fee of $250, upping the amount to $500 for repeat offenders. "This is the beginning of the community rallying together to say we're not putting up with this anymore," Duggan said. In previous comments, Bettison underlined how those incidents led to the new initiative. "This is where we need the community and the public's help as well," said Bettison.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
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Detroit cracks down on curfew violations after several teens, children shot
Detroit police plan to crack down on curfew violations in ways "this city has not seen before," Mayor Mike Duggan said, as he announced their strategy to prevent further bloodshed after several of the city's youths were shot in a little more than one week. The plan outlined on Monday, July 7, at a press conference includes heftier fines for breaking curfew, police treating reports of minors out past curfew as a top priority and an increased police presence throughout the night. At least 13 teenagers and children were shot in Detroit since June 27, when a 4-year-old and 18-year-old were shot to death at Skinner Playfield, and a 17-year-old injured — all because a teen suspect was mad that someone ripped off his ski mask on a bus that day, authorities said. Other shootings include a 15-year-old killed over an argument about shoes, three teens critically injured at an illegal street party, and a 2-year-old hit by a stray bullet while watching Fourth of July fireworks with his mother. Duggan, joined by Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison, said they've identified two problems this summer. First, more teens are picking up guns, Duggan said. And second, those engaging in gun violence do so after curfew — "times they shouldn't have been out on the street under the curfew laws," Duggan said — and during times when there's less police presence. An example was during a July 5 illegal block party near Marion and Fischer, where a 2-year-old was hit by a stray bullet, Duggan and Bettison said. That party was broken up by police earlier in the evening, but the group regathered. There were 22 shell casings from different guns found on the scene. Police arrested 10 people, and those detained for curfew violations were as young as 14-years-old, Duggan said. "What are 14-year-olds doing out at midnight in a group of people randomly firing off shots? When this is allowed to occur, you have innocent 2-year-olds a block away whose lives are at risk," Duggan said. Minors 15 and under can't be out without a parent after 10 p.m. For ages 16 and 17, the curfew is 11 p.m. Bettison said police are currently writing curfew tickets after finding those as young as 9 who are out as late as 4 a.m. Parents need to be held accountable, both Duggan and Bettison said. They'll be ticketing parents of children out past curfew for violating the city's parental responsibility laws. So their five-point plan is this: Police will now respond to reports of young people out past curfew as "priority one" calls, which officers respond to quicker and are considered the most urgent. Bettison said police will be strict — minors past curfew will be detained and ticketed. Duggan said the current fines for curfew violations — a minimum of $75 for a first offense and $100 for a second offense — need to be increased. He's asking City Council to raise the fines to a minimum of $250 for a first offense and $500 for a second offense, which is the maximum amount allowed under state law, he said. Duggan authorized overtime for police assigned to its illegal block party and drag racing units. Their shifts will now end at 5 a.m. instead of 3 a.m. Bettison will continue his calls for Michigan lawmakers to allocate more funding to community violence intervention groups in Detroit, which the city credits for an overall decrease of violent crime. "This is an extreme priority," Bettison said. "Our officers are ready to go." While Duggan and Bettison stood together on Monday, July 7, confident in their plan to deter teen gun violence, actual teenagers the Free Press spoke to are skeptical. It's not that increasing fines for curfew violations won't be helpful at all, said Davion White and Cord'e Theus, both 17-year-olds with Caught Up, a Detroit youth mentorship group. Theus said parents might pay attention to their kids more, especially if they're already financially unstable. But the teens who are entangled in gun violence in the city don't care about the law, let alone curfew, they said. They've accepted dying, because it's all around them, White said. What they need is mentorship, to feel seen. If they had that, "they can see that there's another way of life than being a street person, there's another way to be cool," White said. And, "if they have stuff to do, that will keep them out of trouble," Theus said. White said he's an example. Before getting joining Caught Up at age 14, he'd been surrounding himself with teens involved in gang violence. "I was going down that path," he said, until Toson Knight of Caught Up recruited him. Now those teens White had been involved with are afraid to go outside. And as for White, he now sees the good things in life. He's travelled all around the country with Knight and other Caught Up mentees. "People don't die everywhere," he said he realized. Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at asahouri@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit cracks down on curfew violations after teens, children shot
