City Delays Action on Daytime Curfew

A controversial plan to impose a daytime curfew on schoolchildren has been tabled until Sept. 3 by the City Council, which opted to study the issue further before taking action.

The council’s decision this week followed a series of comments from county residents who are opposed to the curfew. If approved by the council, the curfew would prohibit children ages 6 to 18 from loitering in public places during school hours.

Robyn Nordell of the Lake Forest-based Citizens for Responsible and Constitutional Law said a daytime curfew would create a “tiny police state” in Placentia.

Other speakers decried the loss of personal freedoms that would result from such a law, and they questioned whether police would tend to stop some children more than others based on their race and attire.

Placentia is considering a daytime curfew at the request of a coalition of law enforcement officials and Orange County school district superintendents.

Earlier this month, La Habra became the first of the county’s 31 cities to adopt such a curfew, which will take effect in September.