The Fayetteville City Council voted Monday evening in favor of establishing a one-year pilot program to establish a youth curfew.
The city council voted 8-2 in favor of establishing an 11 p.m. youth curfew, effective immediately. Mayor Mitch Colvin said it applies to people 16 and younger.
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City council members Mario Benavente and Deno Hondros voted against the proposed curfew during a special session Monday evening. Colvin called the meeting due to recent gun violence.
Colvin said the youth curfew is similar to a curfew established in the city of Charlotte. Initially, Colvin suggested a 9 p.m. curfew, but city leaders bumped it back to 11 p.m. due to high school football in the fall.
Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Jensen suggested the city should change the youth curfew for six months instead of a year. The city decided to establish the youth curfew for a year.
During Monday's meeting, Benavente said he had problems with the proposed curfew. He said not all incidents with youth happen after 9 p.m. and that there's a lot of variation. He also said he doesn't think parents should be punished if their kids sneak out of the house.
City leaders are also considering adding a "junior" mayor, adding transportation to rec centers, requiring an ID card to enter a rec center and extending rec center hours.
On Monday, city council members passed motions to:
- Allow the city's police chief to meet with IT to discuss technology needed to supplement crime fighting tools, then come back to the city council for budgetary consideration.
- Allow for bag restrictions at special events. City council members also added language to ban masks to hide identities at city-owned property or city-sponsored event (medical exemptions are allowed).
- Increase what the city will pay Crime Stopers for an award for crime tips that lead to an arrest. The increase goes from $2,000 to $5,000.
City leaders are also considering:
- Expanded camera network with license-plate readers, facial recognition and other AI-driven tools
- Contracted partnerships with private security agencies
Colvin referenced three shootings late April near the Downtown Dogwood Festival, and an incident in March where a 12-year-old was shot at a carnival.
More recently, a disturbing video began circulating on social media showing the aftermath of a deadly shooting around 10 a.m. Sunday near Barton’s Landing Place. Neighbors saw a person armed with a large gun walking near another person on the ground.
The Fayetteville Police Department later said 36-year-old Donte Vanclief was shot and killed. They did not announce any charges and said all parties are cooperating with the investigation.
“These are drastic times and they call for drastic measures,” Colvin said. “We have to get our parents and our guardians into this process and believe some legislation will help do that.”
According to quarterly crime data provided by Fayetteville police, homicides in the city are up 366% so far this year compared to the previous one, with 14 incidents reported so far this year.
For comparison, Raleigh has reported 11 incidents this period, up 22% from 2024 over the same time period.
It’s a problem that Fayetteville city leaders believe needs to be addressed, though not every councilmember thinks a curfew will achieve the desired results.
“I don’t believe that the mayor’s recommendations that we propose massive fines against an already struggling family is actually going to do anything to stop situations where they’re losing control of their young people,” said Mario Benavente, who represents District 3 on Fayetteville’s City Council.
Benavente said a similar proposal had been brought up in 2023, though the city council ultimately decided not to push it through.
“The North Carolina American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] came to the city of Fayetteville,” Benavente said. “They presented incredible data showing [that] in any city where such a curfew was actually attempted, it did not have the outcome that they were hoping for. It did not reduce juvenile incidents of crime.”
The discussions on Monday pointed to the increasing urgency city leaders are feeling to curb a concerning trend.