Baltimore City's Youth Curfew Takes Effect
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Memorial Day weekend ushers in the summer season and that means new rules for kids in Baltimore as the city curfew takes effect.
Long summer days ahead mean lots of daytime outdoors and a weekend curfew at night for kids 16 and younger.
A group of children at a city skate park know what time it is.
"My dad makes me come in at 9 o'clock, and that's the curfew," 11-year-old Tom Revus said.
Charles Taylor wasn't sure about the time limit...
"But I have to be in like when it's 8," he said.
[Reporter: Are you out often after 9 o'clock at night?]
"A little tiny bit because I have to catch the bus basically to home," 12-year-old Kevin Bleckledge said.
[Reporter: But you do your best to make it?]
"Yeah," he replied.
The curfew takes effect for kids under age 14 from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. For teens 14 to 16, the curfew starts at 11 p.m. and ends at 6 a.m.
The City says youth who violate the curfew will be taken home by Baltimore police. Outreach staff with the Community Action Partnership (CAP) program of the Mayor's Office of Human Services will then follow up in person with youth and their families to conduct an assessment, offer supportive services and provide referrals to activities and community resources.
"If you are a young person who's working, and we hope a lot of young people are working this summer, if you're coming back and forth from work, if you're going back and forth to a rec center or an organized neighborhood program, curfew doesn't apply," said Terry Hickey with the Office of Human Services. "If you're with a parent or a guardian, curfew doesn't apply and if you're out because of an emergency explain that to a police officer, because the curfew doesn't apply to that. What we want to do is take away that risk of youth being out on the street for no reason in unsafe environments."
There are contingency plans in place in the event that parents cannot be located.
The City will not have physical curfew centers this year, unlike like last summer.
The curfew is in effect until August 26.
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