Will Baltimore's Curfew Law Put Black Kids On Lockdown?

Are Baltimore teenagers – many of whom are African-American – now under the equivalent of house arrest? Teenagers and children in Baltimore are preparing to experience one of the strictest curfews in the nation. Opponents say these kids will be on city-wide lock down, which will cause even more problems for residents and police.

The new law — which was approved by the city council and has the support of Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (pictured) — requires children under 14 to be home by 9 p.m. year-round.

Teenagers 14 to 16 years old would have a curfew of 10 p.m. on weeknights during the school year and 11 p.m. on weekends. The curfews are among the earliest curfews in the nation. The new law also imposes a daytime curfew during school hours — 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. — restricting youth under 16 from being in public places or stores when they should be in school.

“We did that because it’s just old-school common sense,” Councilman Brandon Scott, the bill’s lead supporter, said. “If you’re going to ask young people to be up and ready for school at 6:30, 7 o’clock in the morning, then they should not be out at 11 p.m. at night.”

But the curfews are already causing controversy. Supporters say the curfews will keep kids safe and help curb rising crime; but residents and civil rights advocates criticized the curfew, saying police could become too aggressive with the city’s youth in a town where the relationship between police and the black community is already strained. Some say it’s tantamount to kids being forced on house arrest.

“There’s already a huge amount of police brutality, with adults being targeted, but now police are going to have the green light to do the exact same thing to young people,” Colleen Davidson, a youth organizer who opposes the curfew, told reporters. Mayor Rawlings-Blake, who is African American, said she supports the new curfew. “I am not willing to gamble on the lives of our children,” she said.

Here’s the issue: Baltimore has one of the highest crime rates in the country and homicides are increasing. So is it fair to impose curfews on Baltimore’s young people, many of whom are black? Will keeping them off the streets actually reduce crime or will it result in more confrontations with police? Certainly a case could be argued that the more police interact with black youth, the greater the probability that tensions could flare up. And what are police planning to do with young people who are violation of the curfew? This seems problematic.

“In concept, this may be a good idea,” said Chuck Drago, a police procedures expert who worked for the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, police department when they instituted a juvenile curfew in the late 1990s. “But it’s very difficult and very rare that a police department can actually follow through with these curfews.” And some lawyers even argue that the new curfew is legally unconstitutional.

“This is not a criminal enforcement act by the police,” Rawlings-Blake said. “This is about taken them out of harm’s way before a situation materializes where their being on the street becomes a law enforcement concern,” she said. “We have to look for ways to support kids in need, vulnerable children,” the mayor added. “One way we identify those kids are the ones that are out unsupervised.”

The mayor seems firm in her beliefs. Only time will tell if the curfews are a good idea – or trouble waiting to happen. What do you think?

(Photo: City of Baltimore)

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