Is Curfew the Cure?

Large cities attempt to curb gun violence with new curfew laws

The City of Philadelphia recently passed a measure it hopes will help control the gun violence plaguing city streets: a permanent juvenile curfew.

Philadelphia isn’t alone in trying to address the problem with a curfew. This past summer, Chicago expanded its youth curfew laws and significantly increased enforcement. Other major cities, including Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta, have similar laws. The problem: curfews are not effective in controlling gun violence.

“There’s a pretty solid amount of evidence that curfews do not reduce crime or violence, especially shootings,” said Daniel Semenza, an assistant professor of sociology, anthropology, and criminal justice at Rutgers University–Camden. Semenza also serves as the director of interpersonal violence research for Rutgers University’s New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center.

Daniel Semenza, assistant professor of criminal justice at Rutgers University–Camden (Photo by Kate Blair)

Daniel Semenza, assistant professor of criminal justice at Rutgers University–Camden (Photo by Kate Blair)

If Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signs the new law, children 13 and younger will need to be home by 9:30 p.m., and children between the ages of 14 and 18 will need to be home by 10 p.m. Gun violence targeting youth is on the rise in Philadelphia, with city data showing the number of shooting and homicide victims under 18 in the past year has more than doubled since 2015.

“Curfew policies have been around for a long time and tend to garner support, but the data just isn’t there,” Semenza said. “In fact, keeping people off the streets, especially at night, might actually remove potential bystanders or witnesses from public areas in the event of a shooting; it looks good politically, and it’s a relatively easy measure to implement, but it isn’t effective.”

Semenza strongly advocates for comprehensive gun reform, emphasizing that gun regulations related to the sale and movement of firearms must be consistent across every state. In addition to those broad, national measures, communities need to be able to work collectively to develop and fund proven strategies.

“We know community-based violence intervention workers can defuse altercations very effectively,” said Semenza. “But these critical intervention workers have to be properly trained, compensated, and supported in the communities at the greatest risk of violence. That takes infrastructure and financial commitment.”

As the results of Philadelphia’s curfew experiment begin to unfold, Semenza hopes local, state, and federal leaders will look to explore more robust, evidence-based measures against gun violence.

“If properly enforced curfews are part of a broader portfolio of violence interventions, they may add some value,” Semenza said. “We’re slowly gaining knowledge on what works and what doesn’t work, but a combination of interventions supported by a durable and sustainable infrastructure is the only way forward.”

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