Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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4 JULY 16-22, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM High 87º Low 71º Thunderstorms Shortly after Mayor Nat Robertson took office, I had a chance to sit down with him in his home to talk about his priorities as the new mayor for the City of Fayetteville. Unhesitatingly, he said crime in our city was his number one priority. He hasn't wavered on that. Since taking office, Robertson has put his time and the city's money into crime prevention — including finding ways for the city's beleaguered police force to hire more personnel. That move will enable him to put more police in the community and to put community policing into action. Last week, Robertson announced that the city is looking at enforcing a citywide curfew for teens under the age of 14. Some people think Robertson is overreaching — taking the authority of parents away. I disagree. When parents don't take authority over their children, I applaud anyone who will. I think Robertson's proposal doesn't go far enough. I think teens under the age of 18 should be required to be in their homes between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. — even those teens who have dropped out of school — especially those teens who have dropped out of school. For those who are opposed to the idea, check this out. Earlier this year, The National League of Cities released a survey showing that curfews do work. In conjunction with the survey, the league polled 800 cities that have implemented curfews. The results show that curfews are "cost effective and useful," and that a "growing number of city officials have confidence in curfews as an effective strategy to help curb gang violence." Of the 800 cities polled, the following results were found: • 97 percent say curfews are effective in combating juvenile crime • 96 percent say curfews are effective in fighting truancy • 88 percent say curfews are effective reducing gang violence • 56 percent reported drops in violent crime within one year of implementing a nighttime curfew • 55 percent reported a drop in gang activity • 88 percent reported no problems implementing their curfew • 89 percent said there were no significant new costs for their police departments Of the cities polled, 52 percent had curfews of 11 p.m. during the week for those individuals under the age of 18. The curfews were extended to midnight on the weekends by 55 percent of the cities. And, yes, the cities had exceptions for those teens who worked and were on their way home. If a curfew can drop violent crime by 56 percent and drop gang activity (which usually means drugs, property crime and violent crime), then bring on the curfew, I say. Let parents become responsible for their children. And, in the words of my mom, who diligently enforced my 11 p.m. curfew (which started when I was 16 — I had to be in by 9 p.m. before that), "You can't do anything after 11 that you can't do before then, but there's a lot of bad that goes on after that." Tick Tock: City Looks at Curfews for Teens by JANICE BURTON STAFF Calendar.......................................14 Concert.Connection....................20 Free.Wheelin'.Feelin'...................22 Horoscopes/Advice.Goddess.....23. Classifieds....................................24 Games..........................................26 INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN High 89° Low 68° Few Showers 7 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Monday July 21 Tuesday July 22 High 89° Low 70° Mostly Cloudy 24 / Thursday July 17 High 88° Low 71° Scattered Thunderstorms High 86° Low 70° Scattered Thunderstorms High 87º Low 71º Scattered Thunderstorms Friday July 18 Saturday July 19 Sunday July 20 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Call 910.354.1679 JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomingweekly.com. PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS OFFICER Jerred Sanders accounting@upandcomingweekly. com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/ OFFICE COORDINATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Aurora Alexander aurora@upandcomingweekly.com Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com Cindy Cramer Blanchard Cindy@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and infor- mation on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. 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