INUVIK - The string of break-ins that occurred last week, which police believe involved several youth, again raises the question of whether the town curfew bylaw is being enforced.

Right now the town has a curfew in place for people under 16 years of age which is 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends.

A group of youths hang around NorthMart on Mackenzie Road on Aug. 13 at about 10:30 p.m. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Suspects for each of the four break-ins last week, three of which happened on Aug. 11 while the other was on Aug. 14, are almost all youths, 17 and under.

Currently the town is short a bylaw officer and has to make do with only one. Normally the pair combine to patrol the town for 15 and a half hours each weekday.

At the moment, the lone officer, Dez Loreen, works from 1 to 9 p.m., and not on the weekends. That means a bylaw officer is not on duty during curfew hours to issue tickets.

Loreen told Inuvik Drum on Monday he's in the process of rescheduling his hours to include weekend shifts and the town is close to hiring another bylaw officer.

But bylaw officers don't have the authority to force youths to go home after curfew.

"We can't seize the kids. We can't pick them up," said Sara Brown, Town of Inuvik senior administrative officer. "It has to be the RCMP. We have to rely on them."

Staff Sgt. Cliff McKay of the Inuvik detachment said the officers are too busy with calls involving Criminal Code matters to make enforcing the bylaw a priority.

"To say that we're going to go out to pursue young people out after the curfew, that's not really our mandate," he said. "We are far too busy for that. I think the community would certainly support that and understand that."

But he said if officers aren't busy acting on other calls or involved in investigations, they would gladly help enforce the bylaw by escorting youths home.

"If (bylaw officers) pick up an individual scoping around town at a late hour when they shouldn't be, then it's in our interest to assist them because these kids could end up becoming involved in criminal activity.

"We would certainly help them if the officers aren't tied up in something serious," said McKay. "We want to have a good working relationship with our bylaw officers. But we can't go out and actively enforce it."