Is a Curfew in Baltimore the Solution to Crime?

Brandon Scott, the Democratic mayor of Baltimore, has found incessant crime is putting a near-permanent dark stain on Charm City: And that can’t happen under his watch. So, as summer approaches, Scott sees the perfect time to enforce a youth curfew to get those trouble-seeking kids off the streets and home where they belong, reading a good book or watching Leave it to Beaver for inspiration.

The curfew is directly in response to a recent shooting that occurred as police attempted to disperse 200 or so kids at the city’s Inner Harbor. Two teenagers, 14 and 16, were shot and injured in the scuffle, adding to a growing list. So far in 2023, the stats are grim: Five under 18 have been killed and 23 wounded by gunfire. It’s only April, and the mayor is justifiably spooked.

Baltimore Has a Curfew

In a press conference, the young mayor announced his plan: “I want everyone to hear me and hear me clearly. We are going back to the old days. We will be enforcing a youth curfew as we move into the latter spring and summer months.”

Enforcing is the key word: Baltimore, like many large cities, has had such a law in place since the mid-1990s. But the lack of follow-through is telling. Brandon Scott wants to do something about it. He continued:

“It’s not just about making sure we are getting them off the street but making sure that we are supporting them and figuring out what’s going on with them and their families. It is not normal for a person to be that far away from their home, and no one knows where they are or cares for them.”

As a councilman in 2014, Scott was also calling for a curfew. Does this sound familiar? “We did that because it’s just old-school common sense. If you’re going to ask young people to be up and ready for school at 6:30, 7 o’clock in the morning, then they should not be out at 11 p.m. at night.”

In 2014, the curfew sparked protests from residents and civil rights groups. And although city leaders proclaimed success, there were few pick-ups or detainments.

Maryland public defender Natasha Dartigue made a statement to the local CBS affiliate and rubbed Scott’s nose in his words, so to speak. “What we have learned since the ‘old days’ is that curfews are unconstitutional, racially biased policing strategies that drive unnecessary and harmful contact between police and Black and Brown children.”

Mike Mancuso, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, was more of an attack dog, laying the blame for all things wrong in Baltimore crime-wise is the result of liberal and local legislative initiatives. In a tweet, Mancuso fumed and used a lot of exclamation points:

“Before everyone stands to applaud Mayor Scott for his ‘proactive’ attempt to stem the tide of this lawlessness, please also know that our manpower is so significantly deflated, that we are barely able to respond to service calls in a timely manner. Who is it, exactly, that will be enforcing these curfew violations all summer? Just more smoke and mirrors.”

Baltimore’s Troublesome History of Crime

Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison just wants to blame upbringing and easy access to firearms. “This speaks to a larger issue, that young people have easy access to these firearms and would use them indiscriminately, shooting people within 30 feet with 25 to 30 police officers who were in the area.” So the mayor, having said back in 2014 a curfew would reduce crime, has taken a new tack: In 2023, it’s about finding the vulnerable kids and finding out why they are on the streets.

But it appears that both the commissioner and mayor have very short-term memories: Baltimore has been one the most violent cities on the planet for decades. Before they came into power, Charm City hadn’t experienced the charm part for decades. The town once held a more derogatory nickname that had the local chamber of commerce in a full-blown panic: “Bulletmore.” But that was earned, and the record has not since been broken. The Mid-Atlantic port has a crime rate of 46 per 1,000 residents. It retains its crown of being the 23rd most dangerous city in the world.

No one should argue that Mayor Scott doesn’t want the best for his city. But having served in one capacity or another since 2011, it might be time to stop “going old school” and listen instead to what other folks are doing that is a bit more successful.