OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma City Council is considering lowering the curfew for the Bricktown Entertainment District from 11 p.m. to 9 p.m. for minors under the age of 18 who are unaccompanied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult.
The proposed curfew would only be for the Bricktown area and would begin at 9 p.m. and end at 6 a.m., seven days a week.
Bricktown Police believe this will lower crime in the area and say they have support from several businesses in the area. This is the first proposed curfew change since it was set to 11 p.m. in 2006.
“We can only stop someone based on a violation, not the ordinance, not this curfew. So that takes a lot of that. They don’t congregate… We have to have some force criminal cause to make any interaction with a juvenile or adult,” said Deputy Chief Jason Clifton, Oklahoma City Police Department.
At Tuesday morning’s city council meeting, officials proposing the ordinance said they’re hoping for voluntary compliance.
“I do believe a lower curfew will help to curb the crime in Bricktown. And, you know, if we’re being honest, some of the some of the stuff that’s happened, it’s happening with juveniles and it’s unfortunate. There really is no reason for an unsupervised juvenile to hang out in Bricktown,” said Major Dan Stewart, Bricktown Police Department.
Major Dan Stewart with the Bricktown Police Department also referred to the most recent juvenile shooting that happened in Bricktown.
“It was two juveniles down here unsupervised. They got into a dispute; I believe one of them called their older brother. They brought a gun and then the shooting happened,” said Major Stewart.
Bricktown Board of Directors is also approving the proposed ordinance.
Justin O’Neal, Bricktown manager for the Downtown OKC Partnership, told News 4 quote, “At the request of the Bricktown Association Board of Directors, OKCPD prepared crime stats involving unaccompanied minors. These results showed an increase since 2021. Bricktown businesses have reported issues of vandalism and misconduct.”
The owner of JJ’s Alley for 14 years now in Bricktown agrees with the proposed new curfew.
“I’ve seen a lot, a lot of years in Bricktown. There are some family fun things for kids to do in Bricktown, for sure. The Thunder game, the Dodgers, Brickopolis is a is a kid friendly place. But after 9:00, I would agree that there’s really not a place for kids,” said Jeff Rodgers, owner of JJ’s Alley.
Owner of Brickopolis Entertainment in Bricktown.. also confirmed with KFOR they support the curfew change
“They cater to juveniles. They do not allow unsupervised juveniles in the businesses after 8:00 p.m… I think it’s important to recognize that it’s the business owners and the stakeholders in Bricktown that are really pushing for this curfew,” said Major Stewart.
One Oklahoma resident told KFOR, he’s worried minors will just get into trouble somewhere else, and believes Bricktown is the safest place for them to be.
“I believe changing the curfew from 11 to 9 would increase crime in the city, maybe not in Bricktown, but in the city because it takes away recreation and activities for kids to do… I’d rather them be out here than anywhere else. The police patrol out here a lot,” said Jkairi Dallas, Oklahoma resident.
Tuesday’s council agenda item was an introduction for the ordinance change.
There will be public hearings at the February 28th and March 14th meetings regarding the item.
If it passes with an emergency, it will take effect immediately.
You can find more information about the new proposed ordinance here.
