Public perceptions about noise and drugs have led the city of Kaplan in Louisiana to prohibit walking and biking at night.
Kaplan, a city of just over 4,000 people in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, recently set a curfew for pedestrians and people on bikes.
“Kaplan residents are under a permanent curfew to ban the riding of bikes and walking from 11 p.m. until 4 a.m. which went into effect July 1,” according to an article by Rodricka Taylor for KLFY.
Kaplan Police Chief Joshua Hardy said that the curfew was created in response to noise complaints, but cautioned that officers in the city would use discretion to allow people to walk home from work late at night, for example.
The reasoning behind the curfew didn’t stop with noise complaints, however: “Hardy told News 10 the curfew is to stop people from walking into others’ yards and stealing. In addition, police want to control the drug activity that occurs at night,” adds Taylor.
According to the article, the police chief introduced the curfew with support from the mayor and City Council.
Joe Taravella, a Kaplan resident for 12 years, is cited in the article as a supporter of the curfew.
“There’s a fraction of people that believe that is infringing on people’s rights, but at the same time, I think people can sit back and put a little perspective on the situation and agree that the good simply has to pay for the bad right now,” says Taravella in the article.
FULL STORY: Kaplan starts permanent curfew against late night walking and bike traffic
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