By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PRICE HILL - Regular curfew sweeps on Cincinnati's west side continue to round up teens, and organizers think the crackdowns contribute to the area's decrease in serious crime.

The latest sweep, despite temperatures that dipped near freezing, collected 60 curfew violators in about three hours Friday night. Of those, seven were third-time offenders, which means their parents can be charged with failing to keep them inside.

"That's what it comes down to - parental responsibility,'' said Capt. Drew Raabe, district commander.

The roundups, which happen about once a month now, began nearly two years ago in response to complaints about large crowds of teenagers hanging around in spots, including along Glenway and Warsaw avenues in Price Hill and Harrison Avenue in Westwood.

Since then, the district's rate of serious crime (including murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft) has declined. The district counted 4,650 such incidents from January through August this year - a 6.8 percent decrease over 2002's total for the same time period. That's after a 20 percent increase in serious crime in 2002 over 2001 and an 18 percent increase the year before.

Raabe and William Bailey, civilian coordinator of the Price Hill Citizens on Patrol, believe the decreasing numbers and sweeps are connected. COP members help by looking for violators and tracking down parents to pick up the kids.

Donna Jones, president of the Lower Price Hill Community Council, said the sweeps might be part of the reason she doesn't see many younger people hanging out in her part of the district. So she hopes they continue. The problem in her neighborhood now, she said, is with crowds of older young people, from about age 18 to their early 20s.

The law requires teenagers under 16 to be inside by 10 p.m. and those 16 and 17 to be in by midnight. The first time a juvenile is picked up, he or she is sent home with a parent. The second time, the juvenile is cited to juvenile court. On the third, the parent can be charged.

E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com