Hartford beefs up teen curfew after shootings

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http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Aug11/0,4670,HartfordCurfew,00.html

HARTFORD, Conn. — Hartford officials said Monday that police will detain anyone younger than 18 who violates the city's curfew in the next month in response to recent violence, including a weekend shooting that left one man dead and six young people wounded.

"We must do this because we cannot and will not tolerate innocent people, especially children, to be victims," Mayor Eddie Perez said.

Saturday's shooting erupted after the annual West Indian Day parade in the city's North End. Police said 21-year-old Ezekiel Roberts of Hartford was killed, a 7-year-old boy was shot in the head and 15-month-old Zinia Jackson was shot in the left leg. Four teens were shot.

Police were still looking for suspects and no arrests had been made.

Police said Roberts was affiliated with local gangs and was the intended target of the shooting, The Hartford Courant reported. No arrests have been made.

Roberts had been found guilty in March of accessory to first-degree assault in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boy in 2006. He was released on probation, but charged in June with possession of marijuana and with probation violation in August.

Perez and Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts announced new public safety measures on Monday, including a beefed-up curfew for 30 days beginning Thursday. No one under 18 will be allowed on the streets after 9 p.m. without a parent or guardian, and violators will be taken to a community center where they will be kept until their parents or guardians pick them up.

Hartford's regular curfew allows police to only issue citations to anyone younger than 18 on the streets after 9 p.m., according to the city's Web site. Many U.S. cities have permanent curfews, but they often are less restrictive than Hartford's temporary measure.

City officials said they also will be forming a "shooting team" with state prosecutors that will sharpen authorities' focus on solving shootings, punishing shooters and deterring such crimes.

Perez, himself a former gang member, said the city will be asking the state to increase supervision of people on probation and creating a "Most Watched List" of suspects wanted for crimes or known to be associated with illegal activities.

Other actions include asking state officials to increase supervision of people on probation.

Hartford officials have been struggling to curb violence in the city of 125,000. In June, the city's former deputy mayor was beaten and robbed while walking to breakfast, and a surveillance camera recorded cars zooming around a 78-year-old pedestrian who was laying helpless in the street after being struck by a speeding car.

No arrests have been made in those incidents, which prompted Chief Roberts to suggest that the city lost its moral compass.

Sounds about right. Can't catch the bad guys so punish everybody. [thinking]
 
Well Derek, they "must do this because we cannot and will not tolerate innocent people, especially children, to be victims," and also "the city lost its moral compass."

Well, at least they have a solid grasp on tactical value of cliche and hyperbole. Otherwise, they'd be f***ed.
 
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Of course.... if one person screws up anyone else can...and since we can't single out any individual(s) for known past behaviour..we'll go after everyone.
 
This will probably not go over but I agree to some extent got to do something even if it's wrong. Oh and the fine make it a hefty one say $500 that will or should get someone's attention,after all not all gang bangers are over 18. There are time when the only way to smarten people up is to hit them where it hurts in the wallet. When dad/mom lose a weeks pay little johnny/susie may get a little more parental scrutiny.
 
I'm confused. Several people were shot during a parade, so the reaction is to clamp down on the curfew. Was this parade held after 9:00 PM? If not, WTF does the one have to do with the other?

This guy must be related to Mumbles. When in doubt, at least look like you're doing something. [rolleyes]
 
"We must do this because we cannot and will not tolerate innocent people, especially children, to be victims," Mayor Eddie Perez said.

So, the ends justify the means. The Mayor wants an outcome, and the rights and freedoms of the citizenry shall not be an impediment. The only reason this piece of shit is limiting his action to those under 18 is that he knows he can't forcibly control the entire population, otherwise he would do it. Clearly, he has no guiding philosophy other than the desire to exert control over others in order to obtain a result.

The Mayor deserves the worst. Really. This blatant disregard for the proper role of government and simultaneous failure to identify and respect basic human freedom is fundamentally evil, regardless of intention. People should never accept this from their government, and any response up to and including an armed insurrection would be appropriate.
 
This guy must be related to Mumbles. When in doubt, at least look like you're doing something. [rolleyes]

You should know by now, to actually do something may keep people safe, but it costs money and takes effort. To make it look like you're doing something keeps the sheep happy and costs you nothing (and doesn't keep anyone safe).

Why spend money to keep people safe when you can do nothing and spend nothing and still make the ignorant fools happy?
 
One more thing. Consider some poor kid born into a filthy little hovel in Hartford, father unknown, and some welfare recipient crack-whore for a mother. This kid manages, despite all odds to the contrary, to build a life for himself. He does well in a public school system almost designed to achieve the opposite result, and, in poverty, he is forced to live below basic dignity in the streets of Mayor Perez's pathetic excuse for a town. This kid, who should be given a medal for his accomplishments will instead be rounded up like a common criminal, and, as a bonus, will be told that he cannot think for himself. That privilege has been granted to the aforementioned crack-whore mother he left long ago. Anyone really pissed off yet?
 
This will probably not go over but I agree to some extent got to do something even if it's wrong. Oh and the fine make it a hefty one say $500 that will or should get someone's attention,after all not all gang bangers are over 18. There are time when the only way to smarten people up is to hit them where it hurts in the wallet. When dad/mom lose a weeks pay little johnny/susie may get a little more parental scrutiny.

I agree with you, why don't we just arrest everyone and then send everyone to jail. Then there would be no more crime. And since there is a time when the only way to smarten people up is to hit them in the wallet, we'll only let those out of jail who can afford to pay a hefty fee.

Sorry Deval, I disagree with you. You might want to check the real estate in Washington D.C., they've got a lot of neat little police-state policies for fighting crime that you'd love. For instance, you might not even be allowed to walk down a particular street unless you are positively identified as someone who lives in that area. Are you aroused yet?
 
Roberts had been found guilty in March of accessory to first-degree assault in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boy in 2006. He was released on probation, but charged in June with possession of marijuana and with probation violation in August.

It's a good thing he wasn't the actual killer or he might have gotten double secret probation.
 
I agree with you, why don't we just arrest everyone and then send everyone to jail. Then there would be no more crime. And since there is a time when the only way to smarten people up is to hit them in the wallet, we'll only let those out of jail who can afford to pay a hefty fee.

Sorry Deval, I disagree with you. You might want to check the real estate in Washington D.C., they've got a lot of neat little police-state policies for fighting crime that you'd love. For instance, you might not even be allowed to walk down a particular street unless you are positively identified as someone who lives in that area. Are you aroused yet?

zing!
 
Sorry Deval, I disagree with you. You might want to check the real estate in Washington D.C., they've got a lot of neat little police-state policies for fighting crime that you'd love. For instance, you might not even be allowed to walk down a particular street unless you are positively identified as someone who lives in that area. Are you aroused yet?
Deval?? How did he get into it? Is he the Mayor of Hartford, too???
 
Deval?? How did he get into it? Is he the Mayor of Hartford, too???

No, I was calling highlander Deval. The comment he made about hitting people in the wallet where it hurts to prevent crime reminded me of Deval's license fee increase to curb people from owning guns. I was just shooting from the hip you know?
 
No, I was calling highlander Deval. The comment he made about hitting people in the wallet where it hurts to prevent crime reminded me of Deval's license fee increase to curb people from owning guns. I was just shooting from the hip you know?
Ah. I see. I was trying to figure out how Deval got into it. Of course, the difference in the two cases is that the kids breaking curfew in Hartford ARE breaking a law, whereas we gun owners are being charged obscene amounts of money to COMPLY with the law.
 
Hartford is a shithole. I went to school there.

It's one of the most dismal places I've spent time in. People are miserable there. No desire to better themselves.

People try. No one bites.
 
Bobkatt,when I was a teenager I was constantly up to something or creating some kind of havoc along with the crew I hung with,but in retrospect we weren't stabbing people,doing drivebys etc. The cops knew who we were and some of us were getting shorter and shorter leashes. Had my mother knew what I was doing I probably wouldn't be here typing this. Curfews suck I know that and there are some parents that don't give a rats ass about what their kids do till the kid calls to come bail him out or the cops show up at the door to tell them their kid is severely injured or dead. So what do you do? Continue doing nothing and let the insanity run amok or try a curfew and see if it does anything. And on the fine,again some parents are of the mind set "My child is such an angel" when the kid makes Freddy Kruger look like a choirboy. Generally speaking the only you can get most people's attention is to hit them where they feel it the most in the wallet.
 
Bobkatt,when I was a teenager I was constantly up to something or creating some kind of havoc along with the crew I hung with,but in retrospect we weren't stabbing people,doing drivebys etc. The cops knew who we were and some of us were getting shorter and shorter leashes. Had my mother knew what I was doing I probably wouldn't be here typing this. Curfews suck I know that and there are some parents that don't give a rats ass about what their kids do till the kid calls to come bail him out or the cops show up at the door to tell them their kid is severely injured or dead. So what do you do? Continue doing nothing and let the insanity run amok or try a curfew and see if it does anything. And on the fine,again some parents are of the mind set "My child is such an angel" when the kid makes Freddy Kruger look like a choirboy. Generally speaking the only you can get most people's attention is to hit them where they feel it the most in the wallet.

But why is it the community's responsibility to be the parents to these children? I agree something needs to be done to stop the violence. Getting the kids off the streets at night may help, but taking the kids downtown and waiting for the parents to come pick them up isn't going to do anything except keep the police preoccupied trying to enforce the curfew. When do we start teaching these kids to be responsible for their own actions? When do we start holding the parents accountable for the actions of the children that they should be supervising?
 
But why is it the community's responsibility to be the parents to these children? I agree something needs to be done to stop the violence. Getting the kids off the streets at night may help, but taking the kids downtown and waiting for the parents to come pick them up isn't going to do anything except keep the police preoccupied trying to enforce the curfew. When do we start teaching these kids to be responsible for their own actions? When do we start holding the parents accountable for the actions of the children that they should be supervising?
You have for the most part said what I was trying to say but not as eloquently.
Unfortunately parents think the schools,police and anyone else should be a "baby sitter" for their kids,quite frankly those parents are idiots and have reaped what they sow. Now when their kids have kids the cycle starts all over and the next generation the same and so on. So maybe this will be a wake up call for some of these little miscreants and the parents.
 
But why is it the community's responsibility to be the parents to these children? I agree something needs to be done to stop the violence. Getting the kids off the streets at night may help, but taking the kids downtown and waiting for the parents to come pick them up isn't going to do anything except keep the police preoccupied trying to enforce the curfew. When do we start teaching these kids to be responsible for their own actions? When do we start holding the parents accountable for the actions of the children that they should be supervising?

I can play the other side of the fence here and say that to an extent it is the communities responsibility to ensure that it is a safe one.

If a few hours in the pen will keep the kids off the streets, it may teach a few of them to start to listen to the rules/laws. And since the parents dont care hitting them financially might cause them to perk their ears up and keep the kids nearby or inside.

Its a sad win/win situation.
 
Roberts had been found guilty in March of accessory to first-degree assault in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boy in 2006. He was released on probation, but charged in June with possession of marijuana and with probation violation in August.

Is it just me or....WTF!!??!??!?!??! A kid is killed, and he's out on parole in (under) 2 years!!???!@@!!
 
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