Cops in NE and Downtown Portland will be holding parents responsible for their kids’ curfew violations, starting this Spring Break, as part of an effort to respond to community concerns about large groups of youth marauding around.

The pilot project will use an existing Oregon law on “Failure To Supervise A Child” (that’s ORS 163.577) to bring parents of curfew-breakers under 15 into juvenile court and cite them for their child’s curfew-break. The pilot project will also focus on meeting with the families before their court hearing to channel them into a federally sponsored G.R.E.A.T Families program, which aims to reduce gang involvement among youth.

But some activists are concerned that the pilot project will target African American youth disproportionately, because it is being tried in NE and Downtown Portland, and not, for example, in the West Hills.

“I’m really concerned about this pilot,” said Jo Ann Bowman, the co-chair of the mayor’s racial profiling committee at its meeting last week. “I think it could exacerbate this problem that we are trying to solve.”

Bowman says she will go on ride-alongs to ensure the new measures are being used fairly. Police Chief Rosie Sizer told the committee she feels the measures are responding to community concerns.

“I’m sure we will be able to recover the information on which parents are being cited because of the pilot,” she said. “But honestly, I do not want to do more harm than good.”

What do you think? The curfew hours are 10pm for those under 14, and midnight for 15 year-olds.