Newport Beach : Curfew Law Beefed Up to Deal With Rowdiness

Newport Beach is a hot spot for young people when vacation time rolls around. In fact, it’s so hot that city officials this week beefed up the curfew laws to better deal with visitors--and residents--who get a little too rowdy.

Last Fourth of July, more than 150 people were arrested after a violent run-in with police. To provide another tool in handling crowds, the City Council unanimously made “some basic modifications” to its curfew law on Tuesday, City Manager Robert L. Wynn said.

The changes empower the police chief and city manager to impose a curfew of up to seven days. In cases of “extreme emergency,” the City Council can extend the curfew even longer, Wynn said.

State law gives the city the right to invoke curfew to prevent or end a “disaster.” City officials now define disaster as a local emergency--”any conditions which threaten local persons or property,” Wynn said.

The new law, which will take effect in late June, applies to adults as well as minors, regardless of residence.

But Wynn said he hopes that the new muscle in the law won’t have to be flexed. “This is a law we hope we never have to use,” he said. “We will use constraint . . . but it will be used if necessary.”