HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. (AP) - Mayor James Valley has lifted Helena-West Helena's citywide curfew, which had been put in place because of increased crime in the Delta city.
The curfew, though, remains in place for minors, Valley said.
But laws against loitering, disorderly conduct, public intoxication and nuisances will be enforced strictly, Valley said.
The curfew, which is 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 5 a.m. on weekends, was imposed because of a rash of burglaries and other thefts, Valley said.
The mayor said that some burglars, when approached by police, would sit on a house's front porch and pretend to live there. When authorities left, the burglars then would break into the house, Valley said.
"Police won't run people off their porches, but if you are asked to go inside and you have a key, you are obviously not a burglar," Valley said.
Helena-West Helena police have had to tell residents not to make citizen arrests. Instead, the city distributed forms to record suspicious activity.
"You don't even have to leave your house," Officer Benny Phillips told residents at a community meeting last month. "Let the police department deal with it."
Some residents have complained that police are harassing them because of the curfew, Valley said.
"I know that innocent people have been approached by the police and dealt with in ways they didn't necessarily like," he said. "On the flip side of that, I am proud of the officers' efforts trying to make our community safe and livable."
Before Valley lifted the curfew, residents had begun circulating petitions against it.
"I'm a taxpayer and a grown man," resident Calvin Holder Sr. said last month. "I should be able to go where I need to without being harassed."
---
Information from: The Daily World, http://www.helena-arkansas.com/
©2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
