Abstract
The evidence suggests that juvenile curfews do not reduce crime or victimization. Curfews restrict youth below a certain –usually 17 or 18 –from public places during nighttime. For example, the Prince George's County, Maryland, curfew ordinance restricts youth younger than 17 from public places between 10 P.M. and 5 A.M. on weekdays and between midnight and 5 A.M. on weekends. Sanctions range from a fine that increases with each offense, community service, and restrictions on a youth's driver's license. Close to three quarters of US cities have curfews, which are also used in Iceland. A juvenile curfew has common sense appeal: keep youth at home during the late night and early morning hours and you will prevent them from committing a crime or being a victim of a crime. In addition, the potential for fines or other sanctions deter youth from being out in a public place during curfew hours.
Highlights
A juvenile curfew has a common sense appeal: keeping youth at home during the late night and early morning hours will prevent them from committing a crime or becoming a victim of a crime
Do curfews reduce crime and victimization? The pattern of evidence suggests that juvenile curfews are ineffective at reducing crime and victimization
Juvenile victimization appeared unaffected by the imposition of a curfew ordinance
Summary
A juvenile curfew has a common sense appeal: keeping youth at home during the late night and early morning hours will prevent them from committing a crime or becoming a victim of a crime. On July 4, 2011, more than 80 youth were involved in a series of violent altercations in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, USA This community is in Montgomery County, Maryland, near the northern tip of Washington, DC. Calls for a juvenile curfew grew from this incident, along with another incident, a “flash mob” theft, that occurred elsewhere in the county later in the summer This incident involved a large number of youth descending on a convenience store in the early hours of the morning and collectively shoplifting whatever they could carry (Jouvenal & Morse, 2011)
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