The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to enact a daytime curfew that prohibits children 16 and under from walking city streets between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on school days.

Coupled with an existing Dallas nighttime curfew, the new curfew would prohibit children from traveling unsupervised for more than half the day on weekdays.

Supporters of the daytime curfew, which passed on a 12-2 vote, hailed it as a critical tool in combating a rash of daytime property crimes attributed by police in part to kids skipping school, particularly in southern Dallas.

"To do nothing is to turn our back on the problem," Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway said in support of the ordinance. "Kids are running rampant at this very moment. I have a problem, and my problem is that kids are not taking advantage of getting their education ... some are running the risk of ruining their lives."

The new curfew will take effect Monday but will not be enforced until the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, city officials said.

The daytime juvenile curfew, like the city's recently reauthorized nighttime juvenile curfew ordinance, would be subject to council renewal every three years.

District 3 council member Dave Neumann also inserted a provision into the ordinance to have the council's public safety committee review it by June 1, 2010.

Opponents contend the ordinance is an affront to individual liberty. They say it will prove difficult to enforce and will put children in a position of defending themselves to police even if they have a legitimate reason to be on the streets during school hours.

DMN

The rules

Day and nighttime curfews apply to anyone 16 or younger. Children convicted of violating the daytime curfew - a Class C misdemeanor - face a fine of up to $500.

-New day curfew hours: 9 a.m. to

2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday when school is in session. Several exceptions apply.

-Nighttime curfew hours: 11 p.m. to

6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.