Curfews Cited for Drop in Juvenile Crime Rate

And all 72 surveyed cities that have daytime curfews--also known as anti-truancy laws--report more children in school and fewer under arrest. Overall, 53% of surveyed cities that have imposed curfews in the past decade credit the new laws for recent drops in juvenile crime.

In Hayward, east of San Francisco, officials say their night and day curfews have cut youth crime in half. San Jose has seen a 23% drop in the number of children who are victims of crime, while Inglewood reports a 40% reduction in juvenile offenders since 1994, when it imposed curfews of 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends.

A separate study by the Los Angeles Police Department credited the city's 1995 anti-truancy law with a 20% to 45% drop in daytime burglaries, shoplifting and car break-ins. A night curfew has been enforced only sporadically.

"There were a number of drive-by shootings, kids were being cut down. We have seen a dramatic decrease in that kind of activity," Inglewood Police Lt. Hampton Cantrell said Monday. "Nighttime traffic, walking on the streets, nighttime parties--we have pretty much eliminated those."

The broad survey--347 cities responded--by the U.S. Conference of Mayors did not include a statistical analysis of the effect curfews have had on crime. Rather, it canvassed opinions of city and police officials, and offered a largely anecdotal view.

Roughly a third of the nation's 1,010 cities with more than 30,000 residents participated in the survey. Of those, 88% said curfew enforcement helped make streets safer; 83% said curfews helped curb gang violence; only 23% said they had found it difficult or expensive to implement the laws.

"It's a parent-support tool. Ultimately, that's its real value," said Steve Staveley of La Habra, head of the police chiefs association in Orange County, where all 31 cities have nighttime curfews.

"Not every kid who violates curfew or daytime truancy ordinances ends up being a crook," he added. "But . . . if they get zinged for it early on, we have less likelihood they're going to feel they're getting away with something and ultimately get into more egregious and more violent behavior."