I watched with interest last night’s Greensboro City Council debate over measures proposed by council member Zack Matheny to make downtown safer.
Maybe it’s me, but Police Chief Ken Miller didn’t appear very enthusiastic about any of the ordinance revisions. Miller stated a couple of times that he didn’t think an increased fine would deter loitering because people out partying just don’t think it, especially after they’ve had a few drinks.
As for the teen curfew, Miller did note that his former jurisdiction —–the City of Charlotte —- had a curfew in place for teens 16 and under. But Miller kept using the phrase “teen victimization” when discussing the curfew’s effectiveness, indicating that it was more effective in protecting teens rather than keeping them from causing trouble. So it’s problematic that the curfew proposal in G’boro appears to be in reaction to the latter.
Miller emphasized that the department needs time to evaluate the effectiveness of such measures. Matheny’s curfew motion included a sunset provision, after which time the police department will be able to gauge its effectiveness. My guess is there will be little change.
As for the rich people and their flunkies who spoke in favor of the curfew, downtown bigwig Randall Kaplan came right out and admitted that they’ve “created an environment where people want to come and hang out.” Now they want to dictate who can and can’t “hang out ” downtown. Forget that.
