Crime

TEEN CURFEWS DEBATED

A report due out today from the U.S. Conference of Mayors concludes that night curfews for youths reduce gang violence, vandalism and late-hour traffic. But some criminologists say that curfews are not very effective.

According to the report:

Some 80 percent of the 347 cities surveyed -- up from 70 percent in 1995 -- have a night youth curfew, usually beginning around 11 p.m. for children 17 and under.
In 26 cities that compiled statistics, with curfews juvenile crime dropped by an average of 21 percent.
While some areas reported crime decreases of up to 50 percent, six cities said crime increased by an average of 14.5 percent after curfews were established.

Seventy-two of the 276 cities with night curfews also have curfews during school hours.

Northeastern University criminologist James Fox is critical of curfews, however. "Curfews are a quick solution that don't do much," he says. "They take up a lot of resources for little return."

The mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, who is also head of the mayors’ conference task force on youth violence, said he would not want to overstate the value of curfews. "It is simply one of the tools," he states.

Source: William M. Welch, "Cities Find Curfews Cut Teen Crime," USA Today, December 1, 1997.

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