Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has announced a curfew for teenagers over the summer — beginning Memorial Day weekend — in the aftermath of a shooting incident involving teenagers.
Mayor Brandon Scott announced that a curfew will be in effect for Baltimore teenagers after Memorial Day, CBS Baltimore reported.
The outlet noted the curfew will be enforced throughout the summer, and different cutoff times will be imposed for different age groups. The city has also outlined consequences for teenagers who violate the curfew, as well as their parents:
- Those under 14 have to be inside by 9 p.m.
- Those between the ages of 14 to 16 have to be inside by 10 p.m. on school nights and 11 p.m. on weekends.
- It goes into effect the Friday before Memorial Day and lasts through the last Sunday in August.
- Parents face fines up to $500.
- Children out after hours will be brought to one of two Youth Connection Centers in Baltimore City.
WBAL reported that this comes in the aftermath of a Sunday incident in which two teenagers, aged 14 and 16, were reportedly shot after 200 young people gathered at Inner Harbor.
Scott said the curfew is not designed to prevent juvenile crime, per se, but to act as a measure to protect their safety.
“Never will I say that curfew and curfew alone is about saving young people from committing acts of violence. It is about another tool in keeping our young people safe and finding out what we need to do to help those young people who are just clearly unsupervised, and in many cases, unsupported,” he said.
Scott also said the measure is meant to ensure that parents are aware of their children’s whereabouts, WTOP reported.
“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,” the mayor said. “It is not normal for person to be that far away from their home and no one knows where they are or cares for them.”
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