With the start of Memorial Day weekend, a curfew for youths is set to go into effect in the City of Baltimore.
Beginning Friday night, the mandated curfew goes into effect in an effort to curtail the city’s recent surge in teen gun violence, Mayor Brandon Scott’s office said this week.
Enforced on weekends and holidays, the curfew is part of a strategy introduced by Scott to minimize the interaction between kids and police and to keep children out of harm’s way during summertime, when law enforcement said violent crime tends to climb.
Experts say juvenile curfews have historically proven ineffective and often come with unintended consequences.
Teen curfewsJuvenile curfews come with consequences, but not the ones they’re designed for, studies show
What are the Baltimore curfew hours?
The curfew begins Friday at 10 p.m. and last through Sept. 3, 2023, the mayor’s office said.
Under the mandate, any young person under age 14 out after 10 p.m. and between the ages of 14-16 out after 11 p.m. on weekend or holiday nights, without a parent or guardian will be “engaged by non-law enforcement staff where they will first be encouraged to go home or call their parent or guardian before being transported to an engagement center,” the mayor’s office said.
Those who violate the curfew face fines up to $500.
Measures put into place to reduce violations include:
- 1st offense: written notice and warning;
- 2nd offense: $50 fine or family counseling;
- 3rd offense: fine of up to $500 or community service for parent or guardian.
Who is excluded from the Baltimore curfew
The mandate excludes youths participating in city-sponsored events. City officials said those children will be given city-issued wristbands to wear and given one hour to return home after the end of the event they attended.
The strategy, the mayor’s office said, is result of input from more than 300 young people who met for a series of discussions across eight schools and recreation centers “about what they wanted to see from their city.”
“Our young people are Baltimore’s future and we must devote our resources, time, and energy into making sure that they have the opportunities they deserve to grow and develop into their best selves,” Scott said during a Wednesday press conference. “We are providing opportunities for them to enjoy their time off from school while participating in activities that we know they want to be involved in and we will be engaging them through Baltimore’s curfew ordinances in ways that limit unnecessary interactions with law enforcement to ensure a safe, fulfilling summer for everyone.”
Do curfews work?
The National Council on Crime and Delinquency said a curfew “unnecessarily funnels large numbers of nondelinquent youth into a criminal justice system that is already inundated with alleged offenders,” according to the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The curfews have also disproportionately impacted juveniles in minority communities, with Black youths facing higher rates of curfew and loitering arrests than white teens, according to data collected by the delinquency prevention office
Contributing: Sarah Elbeshbishi
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
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