Split City Council Repeals Daytime Curfew Ordinance

Despite pleas by one councilman and a resident, a divided City Council has repealed the controversial daytime curfew ordinance.

The curfew, passed by a split vote of the outgoing City Council last fall, had given police added powers to halt children who are not in school and to issue citations, with fines up to $25, to children without valid excuses.

By a 3-2 vote, the Cypress council this week gave final approval to a measure that revokes the curfew.

The repeal leaves only three Orange County cities--La Habra, Buena Park and Seal Beach--with daytime curfews. Law enforcement agencies at one time had hoped to get all cities in the county to adopt the curfew.

Councilman Walter K. Bowman and a Cypress resident, George Hallak, pleaded with the council majority Monday not to repeal the city’s curfew.

“According to a recent survey in Orange County, crime is the No. 1 issue and concern of residents,” Bowman said. “There’s been a lot of concern in our community about the influence of juveniles from other areas coming into our community.”

Bowman said giving police more power to question school-age children who were not in school was an effort “to curb juvenile crime and truancy.”

Hallak similarly urged the council majority not to repeal the curfew. He said that most opponents of the curfew who had spoken at previous council meetings were not Cypress residents.

But Mayor Tom Carroll, council members Tim Keenan and Mary Ann Jones were against the curfew. “I feel it’s the wrong method,” Jones said. Carroll added, “It’s the wrong way to fight crime.”

Carroll, Keenan and Jones voted for repeal, and Bowman and Councilwoman Anna L. Piercy voted against revoking the law.