BALTIMORE – Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and other city leaders discussed on Wednesday their strategy to keep children off the streets and away from trouble.
A citywide curfew will begin at 11 p.m. on Friday, the start of Memorial weekend, following an uptick in youth disruptions and violence.
The Baltimore Police Department laid out how it will enforce the juvenile curfew policy. You can read that policy here.
Those under 14 years old need to be off the streets by 9 p.m. Teens from 14 to 17 can stay out until 11 p.m.
Enforcement will be in effect through Labor Day.
“Young people are not supposed to be out at midnight and 1 a.m.,” Mayor Scott said. “It’s that simple.”
At an announcement Wednesday afternoon, officials highlighted Baltimore’s strategy to engage youth.
“This is about communal parenting,” said Shantay Jackson, Director of Baltimore’s Mayor’s Office of Safety and Engagement. “These are all of our children.”
According to a memo obtained by WJZ, if children are caught out after curfew, they will be taken to youth connection centers where their parents can pick them up.
“These are not detention centers for our young people,” Mayor Scott said.
The curfew is not new but Mayor Scott announced last month renewed enforcement.
More than 70 children under the age of 18 have been shot this year in Baltimore. Two of those teens were shot Easter Sunday in a large crowd gathering at the Inner Harbor.
“The first engagement will not be a police officer,” Baltimore City Solicitor Ebony Thompson said. “It will be one of our partners.”
According to the commissioner’s memo, police do not want officers to have “unnecessary” interactions with children.
And if officers spot a group of 10 or more young people out after curfew, they are supposed to turn on their body cameras and call a supervisor and the connection center for additional resources to break up the crowd.
You could read more of this CBS News Baltimore article here.
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