Monday, March 24, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Local students warned last week of the Strip's 9 p.m. curfew apparently were listening, based on a lower than expected number of arrests and citations given during this weekend's intensified enforcement, authorities said.
Metro Police and the Nevada Highway Patrol issued 375 citations and made 10 arrests, concentrating on Las Vegas Boulevard from the Stardust hotel-casino to the Wet 'n Wild water park from 9 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday and 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.
"We were very pleased," said NHP Trooper Steve Harney. "Traffic flowed smoothly through town, and we didn't see nearly as many kids as we thought we would."
The saturation was timed to coincide with many students' first Spring Break weekend. Harney said a similar enforcement effort last year saw authorities issue 115 tickets and make 64 arrests in a five-hour period alone.
About 70 percent of the juvenile offenders were charged with violating the county's curfew ordinance, 20 percent for excessive noise and 10 percent for making illegal U-turns on the boulevard, Harney said.
Among the arrests were teenagers caught with drugs and alcohol, one 15-year-old male passenger who had a wooden gun under his seat, and two boys -- 15 and 16 -- caught cruising in a Corvette without keys who apparently punch-started it, Harney said.
A few city firefighters volunteered their help to the 35 officers patrolling the Strip on foot, bike and in patrol cars, Harney said.
Las Vegas junior high and high school students were notified last week of the weekend's scheduled enforcement activities.
Officers notified all parents upon detaining the teenagers, Harney said.
"One mother told us no, we were wrong, that her son couldn't be with us -- that he was in bed asleep. She didn't even know he'd gone out," Harney said. "Some of the kids we caught said they knew we said we would be out there, but didn't believe we would really show up."
Spring Break and summer typically see unsupervised teenagers congregating on the Strip, both walking and driving cars -- elements which authorities say complicate the congestion. Teenage gang members, Harney said, in the past have threatened other people's safety.
"We hope that we caught some kids this weekend before they did anything that they may have ended up regretting for the rest of their lives," Harney said. "Maybe, after their experience this weekend and now having to go through Juvenile Court with mom and dad, they will have a better outlook on life."
Harney said juvenile and anti-drunken driving efforts along the Strip will continue throughout the next few months.
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