Midnight basketball. Pool parties. Late nights at the rec center.
Those are the things that Mayor Brandon Scott wants Baltimore youth to be focused on, however, the summer youth curfew will be enforced yet again this year.
For kids under 14, that means that by 9 p.m. they have to be at home or with a adult guardian. Teenagers 15-17 can be out until 11p.m. Curfew is enforced Friday- Sunday night from Memorial Day until Labor Day.
Parents could be fined up to $500 for violations.
“Last year I charged my administration to put together a comprehensive youth engagement plan that sought out the voices of over 300 young people to tell us exactly what they wanted to see,” said Scott during an announcement held at the Middle Branch Recreation Center.
The kids reported back that they wanted more teen pool parties, later hours at the recreation centers, and more midnight basketball. So that’s what the city is giving them.
“We’re also extending hours at 11 recreation centers across the city, every Friday and Saturday from June 28th through August 16th,” Scott announced.
Similar to last year’s program, the city will have workers engage with young people who are out on the streets in potential violation of curfew. If the kids don’t go home, the city can bus them to the curfew center, held this year at the Middle Branch Recreation Center, where they can play games and eat snacks until a guardian picks them up.
“These are not detention centers,” stressed Scott. Last year, the city had two centers but according to their data, no children were taken to either center. They report that city workers engaged 650 youth.
The curfew has long been a subject of criticism while some have said that it criminalizes young people and that it doesn’t prevent violence. In a news release the city wrote, “Since the City implemented its curfew activation last year on May 26, 2023, youth-involved homicides decreased 83 percent compared to the previous summer as of September 5, 2022, with curfew ending on September 4, 2023. While there were nine additional non-fatal shooting victims, this uptick is representative of victims from the July 2nd Brooklyn Day mass shooting.”
It is unclear how much influence the curfew had in that reduction. The Brooklyn Day mass shooting resulted in two people being killed and 28 others being injured. An after-action report conducted by the Baltimore City Police Department showed that the department exhibited a “pattern of indifference” in their actions leading up to the shooting.
Baltimore City is adding one new strategy to the summer engagement plan in the form of on-call rapid response teams. These are teams that can respond to “pop-up youth gatherings” with a focus on monitoring events that take place during the week– when curfew is not in effect.
Rec Center hours will be extended at the following locations:
- CC Jackson, 4910 Park Heights Ave, Baltimore, MD 21216
- Cahill, 4001 Clifton Ave, Baltimore, MD 21216
- Fred B Leidig, 301 S Beechfield Ave, Baltimore, MD 21229
- Robert C Marshall, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217
- Middle Branch, 201 Reedbird Ave, Baltimore, MD 21225
- Rita Church, 2101 St Lo Dr, Baltimore, MD 21213
- Greenmount, 2304 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore, MD 21218
- Roosevelt, 1221 W 36th St, Baltimore, MD 21211
- Edgewood/Lyndhurst, 835 Allendale St, Baltimore, MD 21229
- Herring Run, 5001 Sinclair Ln, Baltimore, MD 21206
- Madison, 1401 E Biddle St, Baltimore, MD 21225
