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Are Baltimore's youth curfews really keeping kids safe?

 Interim Police Chief Richard Worley spoke at a press conference Monday afternoon. Authorities are now offering up to $28,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Photo by Emily Hofstaedter/WYPR.
Emily Hofstaedter/WYPR
Interim Police Chief Richard Worley at a press conference along with Mayor Brandon Scott.

Baltimore is one of a dozen cities across the country that have re-instated youth curfews as a strategy to reduce crime. As the city discovered two weeks ago at the Brooklyn Homes, enforcing curfews is no easy matter.

In what is likely the worst mass shooting in the city’s history at a crowded block party, 11 girls and 9 boys under the age of 18 were injured. 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzales was killed, as was 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi.

A few months ago, following a shooting at the Inner Harbor, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced his intention to enforce curfew laws that have long been on the books, but ignored.

On June 29, a few days before the shooting in Brooklyn, Lakeidra Chavis and the Marshall Project published an article that surveyed curfew policies around the country, with a focus on the nascent stages of the initiative here in Baltimore. The Baltimore Banner, our news partner, published that reporting on its website as well.

Lakeidra Chavis, a staff writer for the Marshall Project, joins Midday for an update.

LaKeidra Chavis, The Marshall Project
Courtesy Photo from The Marshall Project
LaKeidra Chavis, The Marshall Project

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