The current City of Kinston Youth Protection Ordinance places restriction on juveniles during the hours of 11:00 pm and 5:30 am Sunday through Saturday. Mayor Dontario Hardy proposes to amend and enforce the Youth Protection Ordinance in response to the heightened level of crime experienced by the city. Councilmember Chris Suggs voiced his concerns about the Youth Protection Ordinance on a Facebook Live Wednesday evening.

“I’m proposing an amendment to the Youth Protection Ordinance in the times to be adjusted to 9:00 pm through 6:00 am,” said Hardy, “pending the approval of the Council at the June 7, 2022, Council meeting.”

Hardy made the proposal to, “make sure that our youth is safe, their well-being is safe, that they’re not getting into any trouble that could put their lives in danger and to hold legal guardians responsible for any action that they may take during the restricted hours.”

Section 15-15 of the Code of Ordinances for Kinston states that the purpose of the ordinance is to protect juveniles from improper influences that prevail after the curfew hour, to include involvement with gangs; to protect juveniles from criminal activity that occurs after the curfew hour; to protect the public from illegal acts being committed by juveniles; and to define the duties of parents or guardians and operators of business establishments in enforcing the ordinances.

Councilmember Chris Suggs took the proposal to social media with a Facebook Live.

“We definitely need to do something about this juvenile crime here in Kinston, we definitely got to get our community back under control,” said Suggs. “I’m not hundred percent sure this curfew is the best idea.”

Suggs is concerned that the proposed ordinance will not prevent crime and would cause negative reactions between the youth of the community and the Kinston Police Department.

“It contributes to this idea of over policing and that is not something we want in our community,” said Suggs.

He referred to when the ordinance was enacted in 2006 and doesn’t believe that it changed anything at that time.

Suggs went on to say, “We need to find ways to get our young people involved in positive programming, to make sure parents are being held accountable and know how to raise their kids and feel supported by the community around them.”

Councilmember Robert Swinson said, “We already had [the ordinance] on the books before, we just haven’t enforced it in a while. I asked that we talk about it at the next council meeting before doing anything or enforcing it.”

Listed below are shootings that happened in Kinston in 2022.

• On January 26, 2022, three juveniles were shot near Mitchell Street, resulting in the death of a 14-year-old. The call to KPD about the shooting happened at 8:45 pm.

• On March 15, 2022, a 27-year-old was shot and KDP was notified at around 5:53 pm.

• On May 5, 2022, Kinston Police Department responded to a shooting at 1:33 pm on the 600 block of East Highland Avenue.

• On May 13, 2022, Kinston Police Department responded to a call of shots fired near the 400 block of Atlantic Avenue at 6:29 pm where a 17-year old was suffering from gunshot wounds.

• On May 13, 2022, the Kinston Police Department responded to shots fired at the 300 Block of S. Adkin Street at 1:10 am.

• On May 12, 22 at 6:45 pm the Kinston Police Department responded to a shooting involving a 15-year old male.

The Kinston Police Department announced that the North Carolina Gang Investigators Association will be in Kinston late June for a workshop in Basic Street Gang Investigator Training and Advanced Street Gang Investigator Training. This training is free for sworn NC law enforcement officers.

The next city council meeting is on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at 5:30 pm. Citizens interested in commenting at the meeting can use the Citizen Comment Form. The agendas for City Council meetings can be found here.