3 CITED UNDER NEW CURFEW LAW.

Byline: Terry Kanakri Daily News Staff Writer

In the three weeks since it went into effect, police have issued only three citations to minors for violating Simi Valley's controversial curfew ordinance, a beefed-up law to combat gang activity.

Police said officers are using their own discretion on citing minors found on the streets between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. without good reason, and in many cases are only issuing warnings.

``We're not out there hunting down the minors,'' said Sgt. Bob Gardner. ``The whole purpose of the ordinance is to deal with problems. I'm sure we made contact with a lot of minors that were out there after hours, but had a legitimate reason to be on the street.''

Councilwoman Sandi Webb, a Libertarian who was the sole dissenter when the City Council adopted the ordinance in May because she felt it was too restrictive and unconstitutional, said she is pleased that only three minors have been cited so far.

``To me, that either means we weren't really having a big problem in the first place, or that police are really trying to cool it because we told them not to be heavy-handed,'' she said. ``But that doesn't mean that next year they won't be heavy-handed.''

In its latest effort to combat gangs, the City Council made it a crime for minors to stay out between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. without a good reason. It also approved fines of up to $2,500 for parents or guardians responsible for the teens. The law went into effect June 20.

Exceptions include minors accompanied by parents or guardians, running errands at the direction of parents or guardians, being on the job, or involved in emergencies.

Sgt. Gardner said the three citations were issued to three boys ages 16 and 17 on June 30 at 1 a.m. in the 2200 block of Tapo Street. The teens are scheduled to appear in court, he said.

Councilwoman Barbara Williamson, a staunch supporter of the curfew law, said the fact that only three citations have been issued by police does not necessarily mean that police enforcement is lax.

Instead, she said it shows that police are using good judgment before citing violators, and are not out on a witch hunt.

``We didn't want kids to think we're going to be out there beating up on everybody,'' she said. ``This is a gentle nudge to say, `hey, we have a curfew, and if you don't have a reason to be out past 10 o'clock, you're going to be cited.' The reason why we have the ordinance is because of the gang problem that we have.''

Webb, who has a teen-age daughter, said the subjective police enforcement of the ordinance is sending mixed signals to minors.

``It creates confusion for the kids,'' she said. ``We tell them we're not going to strictly enforce it, and everyone agrees if we do strictly enforce it, it's too draconian. As far as I'm concerned, laws should be concerned about the evildoers and should be written to go after the bad behavior, and that law was not written to go after bad behavior.''

But Williamson defended the ordinance, and said she strongly believes a majority of residents support the new curfew law.

``I've got nothing but good feedback,'' she said. ``I've talked to a lot of residents, and they think it's wonderful.''