NLC survey shows cities turning to curfews
City officials are finding that youth curfews are effective in deterring crime and violence in their communities. That is among the major findings of a recent survey conducted by the National League of Cities, Washington, D.C.
Researchers found that, out of the 785 surveyed cities, only 251 cities reported that they did not have curfews. The 534 cities that reported having curfews said the curfews are effective in several areas of safety. For example, 97 percent indicated that curfews help combat juvenile crime; 96 percent said curfews help fight truancy; and 88 percent said curfews help reduce gang violence. In addition, 56 percent of the cities with curfews reported reductions in violent crime, and 55 percent reported a drop in gang activity, after one year of implementing curfews.
Those findings represent an improvement in the perceived effectiveness of curfews when compared to cities’ responses to a similar study conducted by NLC in 1999. Researchers with that study found that, out of the 490 surveyed cities, only 152 cities reported that they did not have curfews. Of the 338 cities with curfews, only 26 percent reported reductions in violent crime after one year of curfew implementation, while 43 percent reported reductions in gang activity.
Of the 534 cities that reported having curfews in 2001, 53 percent have enacted them in the past 20 years, with 36 percent of those cities enacting a curfew within the past 10 years. In more than half (52 percent) of the cities with nighttime curfews, children under the age of 18 are expected to be off of the streets by 11 p.m. during the week. A majority (55 percent) of the cities extend that curfew to midnight on the weekends.
Daytime curfews are a recent trend. Of the 95 cities that reported having daytime curfews, 91 percent indicated that they established them within the last 10 years. Of those cities, 35 percent cited that school hours were used to define the curfew period. Another 21 percent reported 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. as the hours of enforcement.
Researchers found that some communities have experienced controversy and opposition to curfews regardless of the hours. Three percent of the respondents with curfews said they did not believe curfews were an effective way to fight juvenile crime. They cited a lack of enforcement, more important police priorities and a belief that curfews “punish good kids and do nothing to deter the bad kids.”
The majority of the respondents with curfews (88 percent) did not have problems implementing curfews. (Many cities have avoided challenges by basing their curfews on models from other cities.)
The survey was sent to mayors and city officials in 126 central cities, 396 suburban communities and 265 rural or non-metropolitan cities and towns. Figures for answers were calculated based on the number of respondents to each question rather than the number of total respondents.