Councilman calls for school night teen curfew in St. Petersburg after police shooting

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Petersburg teenagers will have to be off the streets after 11:00 on school nights, if a city councilman gets his way.

Karl Nurse, the vice-chair of the St. Petersburg City Council, will ask his colleagues to consider a curfew for children under the age of 17. Nurse said teens on the street after that time are heading for trouble. "We need to make sure that the kids are home at night, because if they're out past their bedtime, good things don't happen," said Nurse.

On February 21, a 16-year-old boy is suspected of gunning down a St. Petersburg police officer who stopped to question the teen about a burglary. Nicholas Lindsey has been charged with murder. Pinellas school officials say the teen had missed 42 days of class this school year.

"It should should shock us into action," said Nurse about the police killing. "We need to do something to make sure our children are in school and not on the street."

Some parents disagree. Terry Hess thinks the proposal violates her rights as a mother. "It's an invasion of parents' rights," said Hess. "You don't have a choice of where your kids are and what they do at night.  It goes way too far."

Nurse will ask the city council to refer his plan to the city's Public Services and Infrastructure Committee for review. His memo to the city council said, "There is a clear public interest in children being home by 11pm during the school week so they may get sufficient sleep to be ready for school in the morning and stay out of trouble on the streets at night."