US cities pushing curfews for teens

By Jane Han

NEW YORK ― In America, moms and dads aren’t the only ones tracking down children staying out late. Once the sun goes down, law enforcement authorities are also chasing teens on the loose.

A growing number of major U.S. cities are adopting aggressive teen curfews as a measure to fight juvenile crime, but not everyone _ even parents ― is happy.

``Not all kids are troublemakers,’’ says Lee Ramsey, a father of two teenagers in Connecticut. ``But a few problem children are taking away the basic rights of parents who want to raise their kids the way they want to.’’

Bridgeport, Conn., is one of several cities proposing a new law to keep adolescents from prowling the streets after sunset.

Authorities have called for stricter law enforcement after a 14-year-old was recently shot to death after leaving a late-night party.

The city is planning to impose a curfew that would ban those under the age of 15 from being out from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sundays to Thursdays and midnight to 6 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Going more aggressive with the hours are cities like Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans.

These cities want kids off the streets by 8 p.m. on weeknights.

Is this crossing the line? The authorities don’t think so.

``Regretfully, we have too many parents who don’t step up and do their job,’’ Philadelphia Councilwoman Blondell Reyonlds Brown, the bill’s sponsor, said. ``When parents who have so many other issues on their plate are not able to be where they should be, government has to step in.’’

Violators of the law face varying penalties, including first a verbal warning and a fine that can go up to $500.

While critics raise doubts whether curfews will keep overall juvenile crime down, many say there’s a bigger problem that can surface.

``Curfew laws are heavily enforced in black neighborhoods, but not as much in white neighborhoods,’’ according to the National Youth Rights Association. ``Likewise, white teenagers are less likely to be stopped by police than black ones.’’

Black activists and civil rights groups argue that a more comprehensive solution is needed to stem youth violence.

However, a 2011 study by University of California, Berkeley, showed that arrests of adolescents were directly impacted by curfews. It looked at 54 large U.S. cities that enacted youth curfews from 1985 and 2002 and found that arrests dropped almost 15 percent in the first year and 10 percent in following years.