Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Fort McPherson (Feb 18/02) - The hamlet will soon start sounding a siren to call underage kids home before curfew.

"We figure it may help if we let everyone know that curfew time is coming by sounding the siren," says John Smith, the hamlet's senior administrative officer. "It's just for their own safety we try to keep them off the streets."

At the hamlet meeting Tuesday night, councillors directed administration to look into sounding a siren 15 minutes before the nightly curfew.

Fort McPherson currently has a siren installed at the fire hall, but it's right next to the elders centre, so Smith says the hamlet will probably investigate other options.

Like most other communities in the region, Fort McPherson has a curfew for youth under 16. On school nights, youth are restricted from being on the streets unsupervised between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and on weekends and other holidays, from midnight to 6 a.m.

The hamlet issues tickets to parents when their children have been caught on the streets past curfew. The tickets are $25 for a first offence and up to $50 for repeat offenders. In January, the hamlet issued seven curfew tickets. Of the Beaufort and Mackenzie Delta communities, only Holman and Paulatuk currently have curfew sirens.