Harrisburg police Commissioner Thomas Carter spoke at a press conference on Friday.
Harrisburg officials are vowing to crack down on disorderly youth gathered on downtown streets on weekend nights.
On Friday, Mayor Wanda Williams and police Commissioner Thomas Carter said that they’re boosting police presence and strictly enforcing the city’s curfew to curb unruly behavior and criminal acts by young people—mostly adolescents—who gather in large groups on Friday and Saturday nights.
“Proprietors, the lifeline of our city, have been forced to endure the nuisance of teenaged kids making a spectacle of themselves and causing chaos outside of downtown businesses,” Williams said. “This has got to stop.”
According to Carter, downtown Harrisburg has experienced a recent surge of youth-related issues, especially late at night on weekends. While this tends to occur every summer, incidents have increased this year in scope and severity, he said.
Overall, the problems include such issues as harassing bar and restaurant patrons, endangering traffic, fighting and gun possession. Many juveniles, Carter said, had been consuming alcohol or cannabis.
“There is no reason to have behavior like that coming from our youth,” Carter said. “I’m not saying that we have bad youth here. I’m just saying that, sometimes, you’ve got to be smarter, and you’ve got to think. And, parents, you should be concerned where your kids are.”
Over the past month, Harrisburg police have already increased their presence downtown, according to a summary sheet that the city issued. For the past four weekends, the bureau has formed “saturation details” ranging from nine to 30 officers, resulting in 31 arrests, mostly for curfew violations and drug possession, according to the sheet’s data. In addition, nine firearms have been recovered.
“Restaurant Row has always been a great area for people to come, visit, eat with their families, go on tours of the Capitol and everything else,” Carter said. “We want to keep it that way.”
At the press conference in city hall, Williams and Carter were joined by several downtown restaurateurs, who described how rowdy and intoxicated teens have detrimentally affected their businesses. They also thanked city officials for their response.
“We brought it to the mayor’s attention, and I think she responded very well,” said Angelo Karagiannis, owner of Zembie’s Sports Tavern on 2nd Street. “The streets are being cleared up, the problems have diminished. I applaud her for her quick efforts, and I hope this continues on.”
Williams and Carter also had a message for parents, asking them to better supervise and manage their children. The city’s curfew prohibits young people, under the age of 18, of being on the streets without adult supervision after 11 p.m.
Williams said that parents face “hefty fines” if their children are found to be in violation of the curfew.
“Our curfew laws exist for a reason and, beginning this weekend, we will strictly enforce them,” Williams said.
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