Sylvania leaders to study whether curfew needed

9/21/2010

Sylvania officials plan to monitor juvenile-crime reports in their city for the next six months to determine if a youth curfew might be appropriate, but plan no immediate action on the request from a city resident whose garage was damaged by two 14-year-olds last month.

Police Chief William Rhodus told Sylvania City Council's safety committee meeting Monday night that while there have been some “minor problems” like the damage at Janice Arkebauer's Gillcrest Road home, Sylvania does not have an on-going juvenile-crime issue.

“We do have criminal damaging from time to time, but we don't have a rash of it here in town,” the chief answered committee member Mary Westphal when she asked how common youth vandalism is in Sylvania.

Chief Rhodus attributed the damage at Mrs. Arkebauer's home, during which naughty words were written on her garage doors and light bulbs were stolen from outdoor fixtures, to youth with idle time during the summer.

Most mischief in Sylvania occurs when school is out, he said, noting also that the damage to the Arkebauer home and a neighbor's next door occurred during the early evening, when any curfew the city might adopt would not be in effect.