Indianapolis already has a temporary juvenile curfew in place for the summer, but City-County Councilor Michael-Paul Hart says theres a gap.WATCH FULL STORY BELOWHes proposing that 17-year-olds be included in the citys curfew en forcement efforts.Primarily for a few reasons. One, a 17-year-old is still a juvenile. Two, a 17-year-old can still be a victim of a crime, and three, a 17-year-old is still capable of operating in dangerous activity.Right now, 17-year-olds are not included in the public safety curfew hours, but must follow the states curfew laws, which bans them from being in public after 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and after 1 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.We do have to have mentors; we gotta have safe places for juveniles to go, but at the same time weve got to have accountability; we have to have parents in involved in their lives. Right now, the curfew policy is inconsistent with our goals, and this proposal fixes that, he said.Hart says he supports youth programming efforts, but wants to see the data showing whats working, and where improvements are needed.Andrew Merkley, director of the Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety, says theyre already seeing strong participation in its summer programming.I think weve had 71 individuals registered for our first Friday event last Friday. Thats almost double the number we had enrolled in the entirety of last years program, which was a daytime program throughout the week, Merkley said.Merkley says OPHS is requesting $300,000 from the City-County Council for youth engagement and activities.We would like to see an expanded program that would take us later into the summer, even after school begins on Friday and Saturday evenings, but were also proposing funds to have programming over the fall and winter break, Merkley said.Organizations like Let Them Talk, which hosts Summer in the City events for youth, say theyre available to be there for youth between ages 12 to 17 over the weekends.Their goal is to give kids the skills to problem solve and navigate tough scenarios.Were honing in on the communication part and practical practices that we can take home with us. I think a lot of times we go to programs and they give us their solutions, and those solutions arent sustainable for us at home, so we want our kids to give us some insight, so we can work with them and give them sustainable solutions they can take with them, Let Them Talk co-founder Daniel Mills said.Whether its through curfew enforcement, mentorship programs, or community activities, city leaders agree that keeping kids engaged is a key part of reducing juvenile crime.For us to be preemptive and stopping some of these situations or deescalating these situations is very pivotal, Mills said. ...read more read less