Youngstown police begin truancy sweeps

YOUNGSTOWN — Monday wasn’t a good day to be a teenager skipping school.

The rest of January won’t be, either.

Citywide, police working with overtime grant money will be out four hours each school day this month looking for truants and other young ne’er-do-wells.

They’ll also be looking for about 100 kids wanted on warrants issued by Mahoning County Juvenile Court, mostly for failure to appear in court.

Next month, police will mix it up a bit, switching from truancy to night-time curfew violations and back again, said Detective Sgt. Mike Lambert, head of the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force gang unit.

The sweeps that were to begin on Thursday got an early start on Monday. Officers hit all sides of town, checking for school-age kids on the streets, at fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and the WRTA bus station.

For more, see Tuesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com