Lubbock Police Chief Greg Stevens on Wednesday announced the return of the ACE program which is short for Aggressive Curfew Enforcement. He did so in light of recent arrests of juveniles for vehicle burglaries.
“When we have 20 to 25 vehicle burglaries in one night, they are determined to put a stop to that,” said Stevens.
Stevens said the city ordinance has been on the books for years but has gone largely unenforced recently. He said the ordinance applies to both kids and parents.
Stevens said juveniles out after-hours committing crimes is a problem for everyone including property owners who are “sick and tired” of having their cars broken into.
Stevens said, “If your child is out in the middle of the night, and you don’t know that, or you allow that to happen, that’s a problem for the entire city.”
“If they’re breaking into cars, you have responsibility for that,” Stevens also said.
In 2018, more than 1600 vehicles were stolen, putting Lubbock at the top of the list in the entire state. In addition, more than 3,500 cars were broken into, and about 350 guns stolen from the vehicles, according to Stevens.
“They’ll search through the car and when they don’t find a gun they’ll move on. They’ll leave behind valuable items.They are clearly just looking for guns,” he said.
The curfew ordinance in Lubbock says:
It shall be unlawful for any person sixteen (16) or less years of age to be or remain in or upon any public place or in or upon any establishment within the city between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. of the following day, official city time, except that on Fridays and Saturdays and nights next preceding school holidays (not including summer vacation) the hours shall be from 12:00 midnight to 6:00 a.m.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person aged six (6) to sixteen (16) years of age, inclusive, to be or remain in or upon any public place or in or upon any establishment within the city between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on a school day.
CLICK HERE to see more of Stevens’ announcement.
