Okotoks - Curfew may be revisited

Mayor would like to change bylaw from 15 and under to include youth 17 and under

By Pamela Roth
Staff reporter

Okotoks’ mayor wants the town’s youth curfew expanded to address increased vandalism in the town.
Okotoks Mayor Bill McAlpine would like to see the curfew’s scope widened to include youth 17 and under in hopes the move will curb vandalism.
The town of Okotoks has had a youth curfew for more than eight years. Anyone under the age of 15 is not permitted to be in a public place without an adult or guardian or a legitimate excuse after 11 p.m. If they are caught doing so, police have the authority to direct them to go home or give them a $100 fine. A parent or guardian who is letting their child out after the curfew can also be handed a $100 fine.
According to the town’s bylaw enforcement department no fines have been issued during the curfew’s eight years.
What McAlpine wants is for the bylaw to be more stringent and do what it was intended — have an impact on the amount of vandalism in the community.
“Personally I think it should be tougher,” said McAlpine. “It’s one more tool. It’s not the end all or be all, but it does help the police on their patrols.”
Several other communities have initiated similar curfews as a means to address vandalism including Black Diamond, Turner Valley and Vulcan.
Like Okotoks, no fines have ever been issued in Turner Valley or Black Diamond and Vulcan only recently developed its curfew bylaw.
In June, residents in Vulcan awoke to a nasty display of vandalism where flowerpots across town were tipped over and smashed.
As a result of the vandalism, town council voted unanimously to enact a 10 p.m. youth curfew for all residents aged 17 years and younger.
Several Okotoks building have been devastated by vandalism this summer including the local library.
The Okotoks Public Library has been the site of four recent incidents of vandalism, which began happening in late February.
Last winter two large windows that face the Sheep River were broken with what appeared to be a BB gun and a hockey stick.
Last Friday, vandals targeted the windows again, breaking two more panes this time with what appeared to be with rocks and a skateboard damaging the window frames as well.
At $850 a window to replace, library detector Tessa Nettleton is at her wits end.
“We would really appreciate it if people would stop targeting the library. We are a non-profit organization,” said Nettleton. “It’s not so much that I want them caught, but there has to be some accountability.
“It’s a hassle trying to fix. They keep doing this and they know they can get away with it. You are always wondering how much more you will need to do.”
Since the new addition to the library was opened last July, a security guard has been hired to patrol the area.
According to Nettleton, the security guard has continually chased youths out of the area late at night, however, the youths seem to come back.
The library is hardly the only building in town that has recently intrigued vandals.
Sometime during the early morning hours of July 29, vandals entered a building under construction in the Centennial Village area and removed a can of white paint. They then splashed the paint on the outside walls of the Okotoks X-Ray and Ultrasound Clinic, causing a significant amount of damage.
That same night, two other nearby buildings were vandalized as well. The outside window at the Century 21 building was broken; and three cement ashtrays, a flower pot and a tractor were damaged at the Foothills Centennial Centre.
Police are still investigating an incident in early July when vandals damaged railroad repair equipment by breaking windows and air hoses. Various tools and fire extinguishers were also damaged during the rampage.
Okotoks RCMP Staff Sgt. Gary Graham suspects the persons responsible for the recent rash of vandalism are most likely teenagers or young adults, but RCMP do not have any suspects at this time.
“We have long, warm days where people are drinking during the summer. We will see a marked decrease once school gets back in,” said Graham, who doesn’t necessarily think there is more vandalism than previous years. “The population of the town is growing significantly, so there is more incidents being reported.”
Anyone with any information about these matters is asked to contact the Okotoks RCMP detachment at 938-7046.

Library director Tessa Nettleton inspects one of the windows that were smashed by vandals last week. Several windows were broken in the latest rash of vandalism at the library. Okotoks Mayor Bill McAlpine wants to stiffen the town’s curfew bylaw as a means of addressing the vandalism issue. photo by Pamela Roth