Police say school children in St James should be off the streets by 9 at night.
According to a JIS report, head of the St James police, Senior Superintendent, Stephen McGregor, says there is a 9:00 p.m. curfew in the parish “for all students 17 years and under, and they must be off the streets by that time.”
According to the JIS release, “the police are concerned that criminals have been preying on the vulnerability of many young children, luring them into illegal activities and turning their minds against wanting to go to school. “
Mr McGregor said the only exception is if the child is in the company of a parent.
“It is not okay to see young kids on the streets at nights and way after school hours and in the company of so called guardians. This is why we are emphasizing parents, as invariably you hear that the person they are out with is a guardian,” he said.
Mr. McGregor said that a problem the police have been facing is that all the districts are not as receptive to the curfew idea for the children “as we would want them to be, but we are working assiduously at it.”
“We are finding that these young people are being lured into all kinds of criminal activities. We want the parents to play a part as we the police alone cannot deal with it without their cooperation,” he said.
