Milwaukee isn’t the only city to consider tightening its curfew hours after a wave of summer violence. In August, Baltimore lowered its curfew for teens ages 14-16 from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weeknights. Year-round, kids under 14 will have to be indoors by 9 p.m., one of the strictest curfews in the country.
Such restrictions sound like an easy fix, but their effectiveness in reducing crime remains debatable. A meta-review of 10 studies on the topic, conducted by the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, found that stricter curfews have, at most, only moderate effects on local crime rates and the likelihood that teens will become victims.
In Milwaukee, a South Side woman has proposed doubling down on the city’s curfew by tightening it and calling in the National Guard to “keep peace.” Her petition at moveon.org had collected more than 500 signatures as of mid-July – when Ald. Bob Donovan was calling on the Milwaukee Police Department to step up patrols. “Not enforcing the curfew simply emboldens young people to be out and about after dark, committing crimes,” he said.
Are we as lax as Donovan and the moveon.org petition-signers suggest? Could our curfews be tougher? Let’s examine how our local policies for keeping kids off the street actually stack up to those in other cities.
