NCJ Number
166429
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: (April 1997) Pages: 44-46
Date Published
1997
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article examines juvenile curfews as a method of preventing teenage crime and protecting young people from getting involved in a life of crime.
Abstract
Although there are juvenile curfews which meet requirements of the US Constitution and are successful in reducing crime, there is no consensus among police, the public or young people regarding curfews. The debate is further complicated when teenage curfews are used to do things other than establish a mandatory time for young people to be home. For example, the State of Florida has an elaborate law based on driver's license restrictions regarding the age a driver must be in order to drive during certain nighttime periods; enforcement depends on officers' estimates of young drivers' ages. The law applies only to drivers, leading some opponents of the law to fear that it will result in younger children associating with persons over 21 in order to stay out late. Some police officers regard curfews as baby-sitting details that infringe on real crime fighting efforts. Others consider that, until parents start enforcing time limits of their own, youth curfews are useful tools to help reduce crime.