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Listen to thisExperts: Youth curfews, like the one considered for Fayetteville, aren't effective
As Fayetteville officials look to develop a youth curfew, two criminal justice professors say such ordinances are not effective.
Elizabeth Quinn, an assistant chairwoman of the Department of Criminal Justice at Fayetteville State University, said a team of faculty members at the university four years ago examined numerous research studies on curfews around the U.S. and concluded they had little effect on reducing juvenile crime. That is partly because many of the crimes committed by juveniles occur after school, not during curfew hours.
More successful attempts focus on early intervention, Quinn said, such as the Badges for Baseball mentoring program used by the Fayetteville Police Department.
Eric See, chairman of the Justice Studies Department at Methodist University, agreed. "Curfews feel good," he said. "They sound good. We think they should work, but they are not targeting the type of kids that need that kind of intervention."
But Mayor Nat Robertson and some members of the City Council said a citywide curfew would give police another weapon for deterring crime. The law would give officers the legal right to stop and question anyone who appeared to be violating the ordinance.
Two weeks ago, Robertson announced he would support adopting a curfew, probably one that was aimed at people under the age 16 during late-night hours. He said he understood there were logistical issues that still needed to be worked out, and he wants a program that doesn't tie up officers having to baby-sit for several hours until their parents can be located. "This community is at a place where we can either do the same old thing we've always done, or we can try new ideas that reduce crime and victims of crime" Robertson said.
On Thursday, Robertson said he envisioned warnings on the first offense, parental fines on the second and possibly something more consequential on the third offense, such as the loss of driving privileges.
Some newly elected council members, such as Kathy Jensen and Larry Wright, also like the idea. "I think we need to send a message out," Wright said.
Talk of a curfew intensified after gunfire between two rival groups at a party erupted about 1 a.m. last month in Wright's Southgate neighborhood, off Raeford Road. Ravon Detrail Jordan, 19, died after being shot at the party. Wright then organized a youth anti-violence rally at the Cumberland County Courthouse.
Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West is raising no objections to a curfew. "I think it's another positive step that could help," West told WIDU-1600 AM radio last week.
The Fayetteville City Council made crime reduction a top policy this year, and it voted in June for a property tax increase to help hire 47 more officers and 12 new police-support positions.
Four years ago, the City Council was mostly persuaded to to enact one by then-Police Chief Tom Bergamine, who argued that a curfew would be time-consuming and impractical. Bergamine instead promoted an anti-gang task force and other initiatives targeting young offenders.
Not everyone is on board with Robertson's idea. City Councilman Jim Arp sees a curfew creating too many dilemmas for police. What if they arrive at a house party with teenagers or encounter an uncooperative juvenile? Arp asked. "If these things were so successful, everybody would be doing them, wouldn't they be?" Arp asked.
Not common
Not many cities in North Carolina have curfews. Greensboro, Durham and Winston-Salem, which have somewhat larger residential populations than Fayetteville, don't have youth curfews. Neither does Raleigh.
In 2013, the Greensboro City Council reinstated a temporary curfew that summer, banning teenagers under 17 from the downtown district after 11 p.m. The two-month curfew was in response to several fights downtown, many involving teenagers.
In 2011, Columbia, South Carolina, established a curfew for those under 17 that applied to only one section: the downtown community of Five Points. A Columbia police spokesman said Friday that police enforced the ordinance using their best judgment and asking teenagers for identification. "Many were given warnings and reminders of the curfew," the spokesman said.
In Lumberton, police Sgt. Pete Locklear estimated police catch three or four violators of the city's youth curfew each week. The officers usually take the teen home or to the police station and wait for a parent. Lumberton Police Chief Michael McNeill acknowledged police sometimes run into teenagers who are untruthful about their home address. "We eventually get ahold of somebody, after sitting there for a long time," McNeill said. "That's the only bad part, that we have to sit and wait to get a parent sometimes."
Fayetteville Police Chief Harold Medlock echoed a similar complaint when he was a deputy chief for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Finding a parent or guardian isn't always done quickly. Medlock since has said he would support a Fayetteville curfew if similar logistical issues could be resolved.
A Charlotte police spokesman, Keith Trietley, said there were 42 cases of the citywide curfew ordinance last year, resulting in 64 juveniles being taken into custody and two adults charged with the misdemeanor offense of knowingly allowing a juvenile to skirt the curfew hours.
The Queen City's ordinance places children under 16 into two categories. Ages 13 to 15 are banned from public places or businesses after 11 p.m. on any day of the week; for those under 13, the daily ban begins at 10p.m.
On Friday, Trietley didn't elaborate on how Charlotte police process curfew violators. "Like most cases, officers will use their discretion," Trietley said.
Local curfews
In 2012, the owners of Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville and Millstone Towne Centre in Hope Mills adopted a policy of requiring children younger than 18 to be accompanied by an adult 21 or older on Friday and Saturday evenings. The policies were aimed at curbing loitering, fighting and other disturbances.
According to the property manager of Millstone, no one has been arrested for violating the policy, and there have been few, if any, issues with it. Hope Mills Police Chief Joel Acciardo said that nine out of 10 times, an off-duty officer "will try to contact the parents or simply ask them to leave the property."
Tammy Hopkins Hyde, a Cross Creek Mall spokeswoman, said its youth escort policy has been well-received. She said unescorted teenagers are asked to leave the property after 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Those who refuse to leave can be charged with trespassing.
Robertson said Cumberland Sheriff Moose Butler recently assured him he would help Fayetteville police solve the dilemma of holding a teenager until a parent is found. Whether that means taking juveniles who aren't charged with any other crimes to a recreation center or the lobby of the Cumberland County Detention Center, or somewhere else, remains to be seen, the mayor said.
Cumberland County adopted its youth protection ordinance in 1997, back when many residential developments now in the city were unincorporated. It targets children younger than 16. A Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said deputies take the youthful violators directly home or call Social Services.
Ronnie Mitchell, the lawyer for the Sheriff's Office, said deputies rarely charge people under the ordinance: Only one juvenile has been charged this year with a misdemeanor for breaking the curfew. More commonly, a teenager violating the curfew is charged with a more serious crime, such as possession of stolen goods or illegal drugs. "It was the ordinance that gave us the ability to apprehend them," Mitchell said.
Andrew Barksdale
19 July 2014
