Atlantic City will use SIRENS to mark 10pm curfew for juvenile residents

Atlantic City will sound sirens each night at 10pm to mark the new curfew for residents under age 18 beginning in July following a months-long rash of violent crimes by juveniles. 

Mayor Marty Small announced the new policy on Thursday, under which any juvenile found walking around outside their home after the sirens go off will be brought to the police station, where a parent will have to retrieve them. 

Fines for repeat violations range up to $1,000 and must be paid by a parent or guardian.

‘It’s been a rough few weeks here in the great city of Atlantic City with violent and tragic deaths,’ Small said at a news conference where he urged parents to ‘police’ their own homes to help enforce the curfew. 

‘Anytime, we lose someone anyone, the entire community suffers,’ Small added, referring to the death of 66-year-old boardwalk merchant Mahmood Ansari. 

Ansari was killed when four girls – ages 11 to 15 – stabbed him during a robbery in April, and his death is part of Atlantic City’s recent spike in violent juvenile crimes. 

Scroll down for video of press conference. 

The sirens on the Atlantic City boardwalk, shown in this picture, will sound at 10pm and signal the juvenile curfew

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small made passionate remarks during Thursday’s press conference announcing the siren system, saying, ‘Stop pointing the damn finger. Police your house. Police your neighborhood’

Earlier this week, a 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged with multiple weapons and drug offenses after a family dispute. 

Police say the young teenager was found with two handguns, hollow-point ammunition, more than five grams of cocaine and nearly two pounds of weed. 

This is just one step in curtailing the rising juvenile crime in the city. 

James Sarkos, interim officer in charge of the Atlantic City Police Department, and Small said they’re ‘not kidding themselves’ in thinking the curfew will end the violence. 

Small called on the parents, guardians and adults in the community to police their families.  

‘At the end of the day, this is a challenge. Stop pointing the damn finger. Police your house. Police your neighborhood. Stop being enablers,’ Small said in an emphatic statement directly to the people of Atlantic City. 

Atlantic City, pictured here in 2014, has been a tourist attraction but recently has been plagued by violent juvenile crime

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‘Can things get better? Absolutely. But we all have to be held accountable, myself included. But don’t pretend like you don’t know what’s going on your community.’

The Atlantic City sirens system has been in place since 2005 and was originally used to evacuate the beaches during emergencies or make announcements. 

DailyMail.com contacted Atlantic City police for more information.