Eight-year-old children committing criminal assault. Nine-year-olds shoplifting. Ten-year-olds breaking into houses. And the 7-year-old who holds the dubious record of being Kinston's youngest burglar.

The statistics for juvenile crime are troubling, but they aren't just numbers. They're real children committing real crimes. In Kinston.

One hundred thirty-five children and teens in Kinston committed crimes between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. last year. This year looks no better.

"Summer is coming and things get busier in the summer," Greg Smith, director of the city's Public Safety Department, told City Council members Monday.

Smith is asking the council for a new tool to help fight juvenile crime: a curfew law for children under 17. He calls it a "youth protection ordinance," and wants the city to test it for 120 days, "long enough to judge it," he said.

The ordinance would mean children and young teens would have to be off the street between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

"We don't want them hanging out doing things they shouldn't be doing," Smith said. "If they work until (midnight), they can still go directly home. If their mama needs to send them to the store at 11 o'clock, they could go."

The idea is to make parents accountable for their children's whereabouts, he said.

Five to six officers would be assigned to enforce the curfew. If a young teen has a legitimate excuse for being out late, police would confirm the reason with his parents. If an officer issues a citation, the parent would be able to talk with police and try to resolve the dispute.

"We gain nothing from fining people," Smith said. "This is about getting young people off the streets."

Sixty percent of all cities have curfew laws, he told the council. "This is information gathering and preventive action."

Children in Kinston are buying bulletproof vests, Smith said. Officers are finding 14-year-olds carrying weapons and narcotics.

"I've talked to about 80 people to get their thinking on this," he said. "I had three people with concerns, one person who was opposed to it."

The parking lot at Wal-mart has become a favorite gathering place for teens. Police get calls from shoppers who want escorts to their cars. They're afraid to walk through the lot alone at night.

"That's not a place for (kids) to be," he said. "I know some of the things going on in that parking lot."

Teens and trouble are not confined to a single area of the city.

"This will be enforced across the city, on the west side as much as on the east side" he said.

Police will be clearing weapons off the streets, if the council gives them the curfew ordinance, Smith said.

In fact, he guaranteed it.

The council is expected to review the ordinance at its next meeting on May 15.

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