Montgomery County police are arresting more juveniles, demonstrating why the county needs a teen curfew, County Executive Ike Leggett told the County Council Tuesday. But Councilman Phil Andrews, who is staunchly opposed to the plan, pulled out his own studies showing that the District’s curfew law did not reduce juvenile arrests in the late 1990s.
Proposed in July as an effort to reduce juvenile crime, the curfew legislation would make it punishable by a $100 fine if anyone under 18 is in a public place between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday nights or between midnight and 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights. Exceptions include minors out with a parent, on an errand authorized by a parent, working, responding to an emergency, or at a movie, concert or sporting event.
| Juvenile crime data |
| • Juvenile arrests rose from 1,548 in 2006 to 2,626 in 2010. |
| • In 2006, juveniles made up 12 percent of total arrests; in 2010, that increased to 21 percent. That was partially because of a drop in both total and adult arrests. |
| • Juvenile arrests during curfew hours fell from 774 in 2009 to 646 in 2010. |
| • Overall crime is down in Montgomery County from 68,026 incidents in 2009 to 62,944 in 2010, a drop of about 7.5 percent. |
| • Gang-related crime is also down, from 442 incidents in 2008 to 285 in 2009 and 219 in 2010. |
The council’s Public Safety Committee — which Andrews heads — is scheduled to hold a work session on the bill Thursday but probably will not vote until November.
Leggett pointed to the August flash mob robbery of a Germantown 7-Eleven by about 25 county youth and a July incident in Silver Spring when about 70 youth got into a large fight. The July event resulted in a woman being stabbed.
Although the number of juvenile arrests during curfew hours dropped from 774 in 2009 to 646 in 2010, Leggett said, the number of juvenile arrests overall and the percentage of crimes committed by youths rose between 2006 and 2010. In 2006, 1,548 juveniles were arrested in Montgomery County, accounting for 12 percent of all arrests. In 2010, 2,626 were arrested, accounting for 21 percent of all arrests.
Meanwhile, Andrews, D-Gaithersburg, pointed to a number of studies, including one from 2003 that found that the District of Columbia’s youth curfew did not reduce juvenile arrests. That study pointed to police’s inability to enforce the curfew uniformly across geographic areas and demographic groups and to the fact that most youth crime does not occur during typical curfew hours — both problems that Andrews emphasized.
Though in Tuesday’s meeting Leggett acknowledged that no existing study supports a curfew, he said the studies weren’t relevant.
“I could debunk any study that comes up,” he said.
Councilwoman Nancy Floreen, D-at large, suggested giving Leggett the authority to impose a curfew by an executive order for a limited time, such as six months or a year.
Similarly, Councilman Marc Elrich, D-at large, a Public Safety Committee member, suggested trying a curfew for a year or two and then reevaluating.
“I’m persuaded that you might want to try this thing,” he told The Washington Examiner.
