Denver Police officers will beef up curfew patrol Sunday and begin sending young offenders to the SafeNite site at its headquarters.

Anyone under 17 who is out in public after midnight on weekends, and after 11 p.m. on weekdays, will be ticketed and arrested.

"The purpose is to keep them safe," said Tiffany Vu, the diversion officer supervisor for Safe City. "The reason they are out is because of their environment at home."

Exceptions are granted to teens who are involved in interstate travel, going to and from work without any stops or who are with an adult, parent or guardian.

Though curfew laws are in effect year-round, police up the enforcement during warmer months when youth are out of school and more likely to be on the streets, Vu said.

A diversion program is set up to help deter violations and help determine why youngsters are out on the streets rather than in a safe place.

Police usually patrol high crime areas where a lot of fights and thefts occur, but are responsible for the entire city.

While patrolling LoDo one night, officer Al Axford picked up an 8-year-old boy and his 13-year-old cousin for a curfew violation at 2 a.m.

"He wasn't acting like it was his first time" being on the streets that late, Axford said of the 8-year-old.

The boys were taken downtown until a parent came to get them, he said.

Axford has patrolled the streets for violators for three years, and the 8-year-old was the youngest he's come across, he said.

A first-time curfew violator who isn't on probation or parole is eligible to enroll in the diversion program, Vu said.

Subsequent violations are dealt with case by case, and chronic offenders are sent to court to face a judge.

A successful journey through the diversion program could eliminate the ticket and fines. Those who aren't successful could pay up to $999. Tickets are also issued to parents or guardians of repeat offenders.

At least half of the violators complete the program successfully, Vu said.

The program was started in 1994 after the infamous "Summer of Violence" when several people were impacted by serious violence.

Former Mayor Wellington Webb and the City Council created the Denver Safe City office, aimed at helping deter violence by and against the city's youth, Vu said.

Since the program's inception, more than 12,600 youth have been gone through the program.

Budget cuts reduced the diversion program from year-round to April-to-September in 1999.

Nearly half as many youth were picked up in 2006 as in 1999, the first year of the six-month program.

prietob@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5219