New Indy youth curfew would include fine for parents. Here's how much

Indianapolis Star

17-07-2025

A stricter youth curfew in Marion County — with fines up to $7,500 for parents of violators — has moved one step closer to becoming law in Indianapolis.
An Indianapolis City-County Council committee voted unanimously July 16 to make the youth curfew two hours earlier, meaning children ages 15-17 won't be allowed in public unsupervised past 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and past 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. Children under 15 will face a 9 p.m. curfew every day.
But the stricter curfew won't take effect until after a full council vote Aug. 11 and will remain in place for only 120 days, at which point the council will decide whether to extend or relax the policy.
Until then, including during this weekend's busy WNBA All-Star festivities, Indianapolis police will enforce the state law that sets youth curfews two hours later. This weekend, police will debut a downtown site where officers will take kids who violate curfew and connect them with their parents or guardians.
The change comes after hundreds of unsupervised teens lingered downtown in the hours following the Fourth of July fireworks show, culminating in a mass shooting after midnight that killed Xavion Jackson, 16, and Azareaon S. Cole, 15. Two other teens and three adults were also injured.
The curfew ordinance doesn't create a criminal offense for children, but it does grant police the authority to detain them. The policy allows several exceptions for kids who are returning home from work, a school activity or a religious event, among others.
The only possible penalty is fining the parents or guardians of repeat violators up to $2,500 for a first offense and up to $7,500 for a second offense, according to council attorney Brandon Beeler.
The council doesn't have the authority to require mandatory parenting classes as previously discussed, said Leroy Robinson, chair of the Public Safety Committee, which passed the new proposal.
Multiple councilors, particularly council Republicans, said they support harsh penalties for parents or guardians who neglect to look after their children.
"We don't want to make this punitive for the children particularly, we want to help them," Democratic Councilor Dan Boots said. "But we've tried various things for decades, and we're still having a big problem.
"Historically, we've whipped people with wet noodles," Boots added. "Our enforcement's been pretty weak. People don't feel the pain, so therefore they don't fix the problem."
While councilors tout the curfew as an important tool to keep children safe, critics say it will be ignored and even mocked by teens who are already willing to break the law by carrying guns.
Kids as young as 13 and 14 were charged with gun possession over the Fourth of July weekend, and a total of eight teens and three adults face charges in connection with the downtown mayhem, according to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office.
Fraternal Order of Police President Rick Snyder, who represents all IMPD officers, told councilors they need to demand harsher penalties from the prosecutor and the court system.
"We're talking about criminally violent offenders armed with guns who ... are laughing at what we're doing here tonight," Snyder said.
"They know nothing will happen to them in the juvenile justice system," Snyder added. "That's a huge red flag."
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department hasn't enforced the state curfew for years because the juvenile court system was unwilling to process violations, IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said. That changed last year after a different downtown Indianapolis mass shooting wounded seven teens, and IMPD officers announced plans to enforce the curfew.
"Voluntary compliance is what we all want," Bailey said while speaking in support of the bill Wednesday night. "Keep your kids home so they stay alive, so they don't end up in our custody for some criminal charge, or they don't catch a stray round."