(CNN) - It's Mardi Gras time in New Orleans, but there is one big change this year. Police are enforcing a new curfew for teens.
New Orleans Mardi Gras is an intoxicating splendor to see, especially for wide-eyed kids, but they shouldn't see everything. So, New Orleans police are enforcing a big change to the city's curfew. No one under 16 allowed alone in the French Quarter after 8 p.m.
"We were having kids that were being victims of crime and perpetrators of crime," says Commander Jeff Walls.
Commander Walls runs the New Orleans police precinct in the French Quarter. "At night it turns into more of an adult entertainment area."
After the clock struck 8 o'clock, Maria Munoz Silva was still walking with her children at Mardis Gras. "Crowds are getting rowdy and seeing things they shouldn't see," says Silva,
So, just how many youngsters are running around here unsupervised at night? New Orleans Police say during this Mardi Gras 170 have been arrested so far for violating the curfew, that's 20% of all Mardi Gras-related arrests. This seems to be one of the harder parts of enforcing this curfew is just how do you find someone under the age of 16 in a crowd like this.
Charles Dorsey sees underage revelers every night while he sells New Orleans Lucky Dogs and also sees 17 year olds taking care of 13 year olds. "You've got children watching children," says Dorsey.
Curfew supporters say the French Quarter's wild side is just too dangerous and some sights are so bizarre, they just can't be explained to a kid.
