As Gilbert heads into a new school year, the town's police department is intensifying efforts to maintain youth safety through enforcement of curfew and unruly ordinances, officials said.
This follows two recent reported incidents involving teenagers at the In-N-Out Burger parking lot near Williams Field Road and Market Street, one of which included a fight between two girls and another where fireworks were discharged during a large gathering.
The incidents do not appear to be “Gilbert Goons” related. Goons-related violence in 2022-24, which included the beating death of San Tan Valley teen Preston Lord at a party in Queen Creek in 2023, ignited concerns about teen violence in the town and has brought on heightened sensitivity to all incidents involving teens.
Officer Travis Sheppard of the Gilbert Police Department said the town is continuing to “prioritize teen safety in Gilbert in general,” noting this is a community-wide responsibility.
“As a police department, we respond to calls,” Sheppard said. “That’s mostly what we do. But then also taking this proactive approach of we know where teens can gather, we know where things can happen, and so putting resources in those locations.”
Sheppard stressed the importance of the town’s curfew and unruly gathering ordinances as preventive tools.
“Our ordinances related to curfews and gatherings is where we’re really trying to come in at a preventative measure because it keeps our youth having some clear boundaries beyond certain hours at night when risk tends to rise,” he said.
Gilbert’s curfew ordinance prohibits anyone under 16 from being out between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., while those ages 16 to 17 are allowed out until midnight. Violations are subject to citation, and in some cases, arrest if associated with other infractions.
During the fight between the two girls, which occurred after 10 p.m., police cited one of the girls for curfew violation because she was under 16, Sheppard confirmed.
While curfews help set boundaries, the department’s enforcement of unruly gatherings is increasing.
“Our unruly gathering basically reads that it’s a party or gathering or event, and that can be on public or private property, including where a business is conducted that causes a disturbance of the enjoyment there,” Sheppard said.
However, Sheppard acknowledged that enforcing ordinances on private property like shopping center parking lots adds complexity.
“If those youth are out and it is not past their curfew and they’re in a parking lot or private property like that, we have to be sure we have a lawful reason to be detaining them or questioning them,” he said.
In such cases, officers rely heavily on their presence as a deterrent.
In both In-N-Out incidents, officers arrived quickly and began dispersing crowds, Sheppard said.
“As we showed up, they were moving, many of them clearing out the parking lot and dispersing,” Sheppard said. “We’re alerting them that we’re coming and trying to use what means we have to get people to move on in a safe, semi-orderly fashion.”
He also noted the challenges of managing large groups while addressing active situations.
“There was reports of a fight or an assault, we’re going to deal with that as the primary problem in the moment,” Sheppard said. “We don’t have the ability, if we wanted to, to corral everybody and deal with the curfew thing right then and there.”
In the fight incident, police were able to make an arrest that night, thanks in part to bystanders who called 911. Sheppard pointed to this as an example of the public embracing the department’s “see something, say something” campaign.
“We had officers there within four minutes,” he said. “Somebody observed something that wasn’t right and decided to pick up the phone."
Sheppard encouraged the public to keep reporting incidents.
“We want people to call us,” he said. “If there’s something that’s disruptive, they need to call us,” recommending 911 for emergencies and the department’s non-emergency line otherwise.
Ultimately, Sheppard said the department's goal is not to punish teens but to keep them safe.
“We want a safe, respectful environment for our youth in this community,” he said. “These ordinances that we have are just tools to try to make everyone feel secure and at home and still enjoy themselves.”
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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