No kiddie games
at the newest curfew center

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

The Max Myers Playground is not just for fun and games anymore. Come Friday, its doors will stay open to receive curfew violators from the 2nd, 7th and 8th Police Districts.
"Besides removing youngsters off the street, the centers seek to prevent and lower crimes by juveniles at night. We want to identify issues that cause children to be out at night," said Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr.
Ross noted that recent gun violence in the city in which juveniles were responsible for — or the victims of — shootings.
"They’re the ages we’re talking about. We are about trying to save lives," he said.
The center is the second Northeast Philadelphia location.
The 15th District Curfew Center operates out of the Frankford Group Ministry, at 4620 Griscom St. Since its April opening, the center has served more than 400 children and their families.
The city’s first curfew center debuted in July 2006 at the Dixon House, 1920 S. 20th St., and since then more than 2,600 young people have gone through a network of facilities established around the city.
Other centers now in operation are at the Presbyterian Children’s Village, 6517 Chester Ave.; Lighthouse Youth Services, 141 W. Somerset St. in Nicetown; the Community Development Center, 4300 Germantown Ave.; the Cecil B. Moore Recreation Center, 2551 N. 22nd St.; Our House, at 1319 N. 52nd St.; and Ray of Hope Ministries, 6640 Wyncote Ave.
Another center was officially opened at Eighth Street and Snyder Avenue on the same day as the Max Myers center, which is at Oakland Street and Magee Avenue. Another center is scheduled to open the first week of December in Kensington.
The centers, an arm of Mayor John Street’s anti-crime initiative, Operation Safer Streets, are staffed by city and private social-service workers, along with neighborhood volunteers. A police officer also is present. Officers from the three feeding districts will rotate coverage of the center at Max Myers.
Rather than pick up a curfew violator on the street and take him home, police will transport the youngster to the curfew center. After intake paperwork is completed, a staff member will call a parent or guardian, who must come to the center to get the child. If that adult cannot be located, the child will be turned over to the care of the city’s Department of Human Services.
Curfew for children under age 13 is at 9 on weeknights during the school year and 9:30 on summer weeknights. On weekends, they have to be off the streets by 10. The city curfew for older youths is 10:30 on weeknights and midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.
If you see a child who is out past curfew, you can call the curfew hotline 215-683-5770. Your call will be relayed to the police department.
Julia Danzy, director of Philadelphia’s Division of Social Services, along with Nancy Doerr, a volunteer at the 15th district curfew center and member of the Police District Advisory Council in the 2nd, 7th and 15th districts, cut the ribbon to officially open the Max Myers center last week. Street did not attend the ceremony.
Rudy Johnson, coordinator of the Philadelphia Anti-drug Anti-violence Network’s Truancy Recovery Intervention Project, will oversee the center.
According to Johnson, Thanksgiving weekend served as a training weekend for the center staff and volunteers, Johnson said.
"We’re going to be ready this weekend," he said. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com