Are curfews effective against crime?? [3]

Minor Restrictions: The Challenge of Juvenile Curfews

by Anthony Crowell

This article talks about juvenile crime rates. In 1990 juveniles in Dallas committed 40 murders, 91 sex offenses, 233 robberies, and 230 aggravated assaults. City leaders reporter that homicides most commonly occurred between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., aggravated assaults between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., and rapes between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Curfews are both politically powerful and divisive tools for local crime control. The impact of curfews on crime and delinquency nationally still has not been studied, but many local governments have reported that curfews have helped reduce crime during curfew hours. Curfews opponents agree that juvenile crime and violence prevention are serious problems, they argue that it will not significantly reduce crime because only law abiding, nontroublemaking teenagers will obey them. Another concern is that unequal or discriminatory curfew enforcement will result in high-crime, urban-minority communities in which backyards or other curfew-exempt areas where youth can congregate are not prevalent. The law prohibited anyone in Dallas under 17 years of age from occupying a public place between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weeknights, and midnight and 6 a.m. on weekends. But curfews do not apply to juveniles if they were: accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or someone at least age 18 with minor's parental approval; traveling interstate or returning from school, civic, or religious organization-sponsored function; returning home from a place of employment; running an errand for a parent or guardian; involved in an emergency; occupying a sidewalk in front of their own, or neighbor's home; or exercising First Amendment rights. Before passing a curfew the local government must consider a number of things. They need to have a clear purpose for their curfew. Local government could prepare detailed reports highlighting juvenile offender and victim statistics. They should track crime occurring during the proposed curfew hours, including such violent crimes as murder and rape, property destruction, theft, and gang-related offenses. The information should be broken down by age group and be collected and maintained by the local police agency to ensure consistency. The government officials have to realize that in order for the curfews to work they have to use as complete as other crime control and social welfare measures. In addition, they will need increased funding for community policing, anti-gang, anti-gun, anti-drug initiatives and better rehabilitation programs for juvenile offenders.