City efforts to enforce Baltimore's youth curfew to end soon
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's youth curfew enforcement efforts will come to an end within the next few days.
The enforced curfew went into effect just before Memorial Day in an effort to curb youth violence in the city.
Mayor Brandon Scott announced his plans to resume enforcing the curfew on young people after a shooting at Inner Harbor injured two teenagers in April.
The city's youth curfew policy requires anyone younger than 14 to be home by 9 p.m. For those younger than 17, the curfew was set at 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on the weekends.
Here's how the curfew has worked:
- Those under 14 have to be inside by 9 p.m.
- Those between the ages of 14 to 16 have to be inside by 10 p.m. on school nights and 11 p.m. on weekends.
- It goes into effect the Friday before Memorial Day and lasts through the last Sunday in August.
- Parents face fines up to $500.
- Children out after hours will be brought to one of two Youth Connection Centers in Baltimore City.
The City of Baltimore has maintained this curfew for nearly three decades, but it has not been consistently enforced.
Some city residents told WJZ that they don't anticipate a noticeable change once the curfew ends because it was almost like it didn't exist.
"I didn't know anything about it," parent London said.
This summer, the mayor's office announced that children who were found out and about in the city after curfew sans a parent or guardian would go through a process aimed at steering them toward their guardians.
First, non-law enforcement staff would engage them and encourage them to go home. They would be offered the opportunity to contact a parent or guardian before being transported to an engagement center, too.
Reporters questioned Scott about the curfew last night after a 12-year-old boy was shot near Dunbar High Football Field.
"The curfew itself is in effect all year," Scott said. "It's different in the school year than it is in the summertime. What's different is the robust actions that we take, but we're always going to be doing curfew. It's just different in the school year than in the summertime."
Scott pointed out that the 12-year-old was shot hours before the curfew went into effect.
Teenagers in Baltimore said the concept was nice but that it lacked weight.
"I feel like the curfew is a good idea, but nobody is going to follow it," a 15-year-old boy named Ryan said.
Parents have suggested that the city find other ways to engage its youth.
"What they need to do is try to put rec centers to help the youth...boxing, soccer hockey, whatever it takes to put these youth in the facilities to have them do great things in life," London said.
