A few minutes before the city's 9 o'clock curfew went into effect Friday night, 16-year-old Ryan Stanton was pretty sure he wouldn't be arrested for violating it on South Street.
"They shouldn't be able to violate my rights," said Stanton, who came from Mount Laurel to hang out with friends. "If the cops ask me, I'm gonna explain why I have the right to assemble peacefully."
That didn't work out too well for him. By 9:15 p.m., Stanton was in a police van at 5th and South streets waiting to go to the 3rd District station at 11th and Wharton so his parents could pick him up.
"We're going to take this very seriously," said police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers as officers did paperwork for Stanton and a few other kids. "We're setting a tone, and that's important."
Mayor Nutter set the curfew for kids younger than 18 in Center City and University City earlier this week in response to the recent rash of teen mobs.
On South Street, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey drove down the street at the start of the curfew, and officers could be seen enforcing it, checking the ID of anyone who appeared younger than 18.
Evers said parents of some violators might receive warnings, but a first offense could cost $150. A second, he said, costs $300.
"I have a feeling we're going to have to make some arrests tonight," Lt. Joseph Bologna, commander of the South Street mini- station, said. But Bologna said he didn't anticipate many arrests, since police put the message out.
A sergeant in Center City's 6th District said police planned to continue bringing them in all night.
As of 10:30 p.m., 15 were being held there and an estimated 15 were on the way. At the 3rd District, police said a group of 20 was en route. But in West Philadelphia's 18th District, police reported no curfew arrests as of 10:30.
"The steps we're taking are definitely gonna pay off," Evers said, surveying the corner. "I don't see that many juveniles.
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