Wake Forest delays action on youth curfew for Friday Night on White

The town of Wake Forest opted to delay action on an ordinance that would have established an 8 p.m. curfew for unaccompanied minors attending the Friday Night on White concert series downtown.

Incidents involving unruly minors at April’s event prompted the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners to consider the ordinance in the first place. May’s event was cut short by a thunderstorm, which kept town officials from determining if the problem was a one-off occurrence or the beginning of a pattern.

Commissioner Keith Shackleford said he’d like to wait and see how the next event goes before taking further action on the implementation of a curfew. Shackleford, who is an attorney, said that he isn’t sure the ordinance would add much muster to the Wake Forest police’s arsenal of options if a disturbance were to occur.

“I’m not so sure that having this in the police’s toolbox really accomplishes anything,” he said. “Because if there is a teen who is causing trouble where it rises to a level where we need to charge someone, there is probably already a criminal charge that suffices, whether it be trespassing, criminal mischief, or something else.”

Shackleford also said he believes the town’s external messaging on the issue has been plentiful and fruitful over the last few weeks, and he thinks those who caused trouble at April’s event, as well as most local parents, will take steps to not let it happen again.

Others on the board wanted time to shore up some of the language in the ordinance, specifically what was meant, from a legal standpoint, by the term “guardian” as it pertains to who is responsible for the supervision of the minors in attendance.

Commissioner Ben Clapsaddle had questions about what the expectations would be for those parents taking more children than only their own to visit the event.

“Let’s say I’m a father and I bring my daughter and four of her friends. Am I legally responsible for those kids as well? Do I need to bring notarized pieces of paper from those other parents that say they’re under my supervision,” he said. “It just seems like we might be trying to swat flies with a hammer here.”

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