ABSTRACT
In September 2009, Ben Pieper was conducting juvenile curfew checks with Bradenton Police Department's Street Crimes Unit and Manatee County Juvenile Probation Officers. The senior Juvenile Probation Officer was very proactive and passionate about her job so the operation was usually a go. The operation was pretty simple at the core of it. If the juvenile was outside of their residence after his/her curfew without their parent or guardian, they would be in violation of the court ordered curfew and sanctions. If the juvenile was a gang member and was hanging out with other known gang members, then they were violating the court's order and the sanctions placed on them by the court and they could be arrested as well. The law enforcement officer checked on the juvenile and caught them committing a new crime, they would arrest them. On this occasion Pieper's team would not generally arrest on just the violation because it was not a new charge.
