As kids wave goodbye to school for Fall Break, the Gilbert Police Department is stepping up its game to ensure their safety—and that of the community—by hiking up patrols in popular youth hangouts, saying a hard no to underage drinking, cracking down on curfew breakers, and giving the red card to rowdy get-togethers, a strategy the department announced in a recent post on the town's website.
The Gilbert PD is specifically targeting the kids under 16 who think the streetlights don’t apply to them with a curfew starting at 10 p.m., and the 16 to under 18 crowd will also need to wrap up their hangouts promptly by midnight; significant reminders that the department issued to keep local youth on the straight and narrow, while noting a list of exceptions to these rules, including activities with adult supervision or emergency situations, for those young folks legitimately bustling from job to home or those who're hitched or in the military. The Gilbert PD was clear, parents and guardians caught napping while their kids wander past curfew could be woken up by law enforcement wanting to chat.
And lest anyone get the wrong idea about what constitutes a good time, the Gilbert authorities have drawn a line in the sandbox about "unruly gatherings," or parties that are anything but neighborly, throwing shade at property owners, landlords, tenants, or sponsors who could face financial penalties or even misdemeanor charges if they've been down this road before or if they're deemed responsible for a bash that spirals into chaos, as stated on the Gilbert website.
For those thinking of embracing the electric bike craze, the "Know Your Ride" campaign from Gilbert PD serves as a primer, illuminating the differences between an e-bike and an electric motorcycle—an important distinction for anyone not keen on getting snagged for driving without a proper license or failing to slap a plate on their ride. Teens looking to zip around town on two wheels also got a heads-up; helmets and eye protection are the name of the game if you're under 18, not just good fashion, and insurance and registration aren't optional, with the department offering a playbook on the potential perils and pitfalls of these modern contraptions on its website.
Finally, Gilbert PD's sharing a virtual breadcrumb trail of safety tips: stay plugged into your teen’s world, kick-start the tough talks on safety, and push for actions over shares when shocking stuff crops up on social media—See something, say something, don’t just snap and send it. They're calling on the locals to pick up the phone and ring in any dodgy deeds that might trip up the town's youth, because as they say, it takes a village, or in this case, a town, to keep our future bright.
