Early curfew enacted Halloween night

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Vickie Hall holds up a well-dressed skeleton in her positively spooky front yard. Vickie says her yard decorations always bring many comments and estimates hundreds of trick-or-treaters stopped by her home last year. (James Clark photo)

An early curfew will be enforced within McMinnville city limits Halloween night in hopes of keeping down Halloween mischief.

According to McMinnville Police Chief Joe Melton, a curfew for people under-18 will be enforced beginning at 9 p.m. Thursday. The curfew means underage persons are not allowed to be on the roads, either on foot or in a vehicle, after that hour with the exemption of those who are under parental supervision. Another exemption can also be teen-agers coming from work, school or church-related activities.

Those caught in public after the curfew may be taken into custody by police and taken to police headquarters where their parents will be contacted. Violation of the curfew can also result in a citation to juvenile court.

Melton said the curfew is necessary because of vandalism and mischief which used to take place before the early curfew was first enacted several years ago.

“We used to have some pretty rowdy Halloweens, egg throwing and vandalism to cars and property,” Melton said. “But since we’ve started the curfew, things have really calmed down. The last few Halloweens have been real quiet.”

Melton said despite the quiet Halloweens, extra police will be patrolling the roads, further discouraging any would-be mischief makers.

The curfew law not only targets underage persons, but it also holds adult liable. Under the statute, a parent can be held legally liable and fined for knowingly allowing a child to remain out past curfew. The same is true with business owners, who can be held liable and fined for allowing a minor to remain on premises past curfew.

Along with concerns over mischief, Melton said motorists should be mindful of trick-or-treaters during Halloween.

“They’ll be a lot of children out going door to door, so we want motorists to be extra careful since children can sometimes just dart out when they are excited,” Melton said, noting many children will be walking near roads after dark. “It’s a good idea for parents to make sure children wear some type of reflective costume and that they even carry a flashlight to make themselves more visible.”

Melton said he hopes parents also pay close attention to their children, making sure they are supervised when going door to door. Many parents, Melton said, limit their children to going to houses and neighborhoods they know for safety reasons. Although there has not been any recent cases of candy tampering, the possibility still exists. Melton suggests parents inspect candy before allowing their children to eat it.