Catoosa city council tightens teen curfew amid vandalism concerns

Catoosa City Councilors vote to update their curfew hours for teenagers after leaders say they continue to deal with vandalism around the city.

Catoosa Police say the splash pad on Bluff Street was the latest place hit with vandalism, and one parent says the updated curfew seems like all bark and no bite because teens and other parents don't care.

A rising issue in Catoosa

Catoosa Police says some kids are going out of their way to ruin a nice place where families go, by vandalizing the city's property, like the splash pad bathroom, bridges, and utility boxes.

Connie Buehler, Catoosa, said, "Yeah, the vandalism bothers me."

Voting to fix the problem

The city council voted to make the curfew for underage teenagers stricter by moving times up an hour.

"We have to get a handle on things, and I think that might help," said Fred Williams, Catoosa City Councilor Ward 4.

Sunday through Thursday, teenagers must be home by 10 p.m. and Friday through Saturday by 11 p.m.

If a teenager gets a ticket, their parent will either have to pay $100 or their kid will have to do community service. Catoosa Police says this isn't about punishing kids but instead showing them a better way to live.

"It's about taking them from that path they're on, putting them on a better one, and getting them going in their direction where they need to go," said Assistant Chief Andrew Wimberly, Catoosa Police Department.

The city says the new curfew hours go into effect immediately.

A Catoosa resident and parent's thoughts

"I feel like the kids that are out and about at those times anyway, they either don't know there's a curfew, their parents don't care that there's a curfew, or that if they knew and they don't, they just don't care," said Buehler.

Connie Buehler has lived in Catoosa for the past 20 years and has a 16-year-old daughter. She thinks if a teenager is caught past curfew, they should be punished with community service.'

"I've never seen any teenagers in our city doing community service, like when I was a kid, I lived in Glenpool, if some kid got community service, they were washing fire trucks, you know, by the next weekend," said Buehler.