In the two months since the Chattanooga City Council banned unaccompanied children under 18 from Coolidge Park at night, not a single minor has been picked up for violating the code or taken to a special holding center in St. Elmo, police say.
“We’ve had very small issues and incidents there, and no juveniles have been taken to the center,” said Chattanooga Police Capt. Jeff Francis, who has been coordinating patrols in the park area.
But as school lets out for the summer, city officials expect more curfew violations, said Richard Beeland, spokesman for Mayor Ron Littlefield. The ordinance is likely the first of several new approaches to curfew violation and truancy to be hashed out at City Council meetings this year, he said.
The council passed the ordinance 10 days after a March 19 incident in which shots were fired as police tried to disperse a crowd of more than 300 youths.
The city designated the old police precinct next to the South Chattanooga Recreation Center in St. Elmo as a place to hold minors picked up for violations at Coolidge. Officials estimated the city would spend about $6,000 refurbishing the center.