If you’re a minor out late at night, you may be breaking DeKalb curfew.

In DeKalb, the curfew hours are 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday for those younger than 18. According to the DeKalb County State’s Attorney, it is OK for a minor to be out after the curfew times if they are accompanied by a parent, a legal guardian, or someone who is 18 or older and approved by the parent or guardian of the minor.

Sgt. Robert Redel of the DeKalb Police Department described the procedure of finding a minor out after curfew.

“If we find a minor out with someone who is 18 years of age, we call their parents,” Redel said.

The officer will call the parents of the minor, and the parents would then have to pick up their minor. If the minor has had numerous run-ins with the law because of violating curfew, they are issued a “mini ticket.” The ticket requires the minor to appear in court so they can be issued a punishment such as a fine or community service hours.

“We try to work with them before we issue a ticket,” said Lt. Wes Hoadley of the DeKalb Police Department.

There are about five curfew violations a month according to Sgt. Jim Haacker, but curfew is a very minor issue in DeKalb.

“The underage consumption of alcohol is a much bigger problem,” Haacker said.
With the recent string of crime in DeKalb, curfew has not been an issue for the DeKalb Police Department.

“We have so much more going on to look for in DeKalb,” said Haacker. “[Curfew violation] is kind of minor on the scale.”

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