In his regular report to council Sept. 8, Coplay Mayor Joseph Bundra voiced his opposition to a plan backed by council and Coplay’s police chief to institute a borough-wide curfew for juveniles 17 and under. “When I was presented with the idea of a curfew nine weeks ago, I made no decisions…I did talk to municipal officials in surrounding communities as part of my information gathering, and they advised against it,” he said.

Bundra went on to say he did not think there was a need for a curfew. In his discussions with people in Coplay, he said, there is no definite trend or demand for a curfew; some are in favor of the curfew, while an equal number are opposed. Most from Bundra’s informal poll were ambivalent.

“Government is taking away too many choices…and it doesn’t seem to stop,” he said.

Bundra’s remarks had little effect on the outcome, and he left the meeting before the final vote was tallied.

After much discussion, council passed the curfew by a vote of 6 to 1, with Councilman William Leiner voting no.

Solicitor James Preston made a change to the original proposal. The age for the curfew was set to under 18. The curfew begins at midnight and ends at five in the morning. On weekends, curfew begins an hour later. There are a myriad of exceptions, which will be quickly assimilated in to the local chatter. The major addition from Preston is a sunset clause that requires the curfew to be re-examined after one year to determine its effectiveness.

Leiner supported the mayor. Leiner has been opposed to a curfew since it was first proposed.

Leiner’s review of the statistics showed crime had decreased, refuting the number presented by Police Chief Vincent Genovese. The differences between the figures were interpretations of the data. Council sided with Genovese’s interpretation of the statistics.

Leiner patrolled the borough’s streets for a few hours during the proposed curfew hours of midnight to five in the morning. None of the data Leiner collected indicated that the juveniles he talked to during the night were up to anything nefarious. Leiner implied that the increase may be a fluke and it did not seem relevant to institute a curfew now. His remarks echoed those of Bundra, who asked to delay implementation while additional data was collected.

Interestingly, a break-in did occur during the proposed curfew hours at the local ballfield. Neither the police, who responded to a light on in the ticket office, nor Leiner were able to nab the offender.

Leiner said no one intent on committing a break-in is going to stop because of a curfew rule.

Council President Louis Bodish countered Leiner’s arguments with his experience talking with residents.

“I don’t want to hear about the other municipalities; the people I talked to are all in favor of a curfew,” he said.

Councilman Stephen Burker added his support by referring to a letter he received from state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18th, when he was elected to council.

“It is your duty to protect the people of Coplay,” he read. “I think a lot of people are misinformed about what we are trying to do. This is a chance for us to stop the bleeding before it gets worse.”

Councilman Charles Sodl, who sponsored the ordinance, was equally adamant about a curfew.

“There were no negative responses at the senior citizens meeting I attended,” he said.

The curfew is endorsed by the police chief.

“We have already arrested 33 juveniles this year, and our previous high was 31,” Genovese said. “Under this ordinance, we get the chance to see their home environment and maybe get them some help that they need.”

In response, Leiner contended that a curfew gives a false sense of security.

“If people instituted some basic security precautions, many of the crimes would be prevented. I saw a lot of garage doors open when I went around at night,” he said.

Sodl chimed in that the petty theft figures may be underreported.

“Many seniors I talked to didn’t even file a report because there was nothing the police could do,” he said.