Now that the school year is ending, here’s a friendly reminder to Denver’s teens and their families that the city’s SafeNite Curfew and Diversion program is up and running.
The program is a cooperative effort of the Safe City Office, Denver Police and County Court to reduce the risk of under-age Denverites being victims or becoming involved in crimes during the curfew hours.
Denver has had a youth curfew for more than half a century, and nationally more and more cities are enacting curfews.
An Insta-Poll conducted earlier this year shows that 96 percent of officials surveyed view youth curfews as either very effective or somewhat effective. Also, 93 percent said that curfew enforcement is a good use of police resources. We think so, too.
About 67 percent of the youth curfews have been enacted in the last 20 years, with 38 percent in the last decade. The National League of Cities’ survey included 62 central cities, 215 suburban municipalities, and 59 non-metropolitan communities.
USA Weekend reports that 292 of the cities in the U.S. Conference of Mayors have some sort of nighttime youth curfew or loitering restrictions. Other Colorado cities with such laws are Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Lakewood, Longmont, Loveland, Thornton and Westminster.
Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson says the curfew deters juveniles who may be considering criminal activity and is “considered to be very effective for taking potential victims off the streets in the wee hours.” That’s an aspect that teens, who often consider themselves indestructible, probably don’t think about. But parents do – or should.
In Denver, people under 18 must be off the streets and public places between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., Sunday though Thursday, and between 12:01 a.m. on any Saturday or Sunday until 5 a.m. the same day. Exceptions include going to and from work, or being accompanied by a person over 18 with written permission of a parent or guardian.
Last year, Denver police issued 1,470 curfew citations. In 2004, there were 1,714.
Thornton’s law is similar, except teens can stay out until 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Lakewood has no curfew but enforces a juvenile nighttime loitering ordinance, police spokesman Steve Davis said. “We’re not restricting the hours juveniles are out as much as the activity they are engaging in.”
Similarly, a Colorado Springs ordinance restricts, basically, anyone under age 18 from aimlessly loitering, driving around or walking around late evening and early morning.
Years ago, most communities felt they did not need curfews, but times and circumstances have changed: In many families, both parents work, sometimes at night jobs, and the kinds of trouble youngsters can get into have increased, too.
Not everybody agrees with the curfew approach. “The ACLU position is that instead of government deciding how late kids stay out, it should be the parents’ decision,” says Mark Silverstein, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.
In an ideal world, perhaps. Meanwhile, curfews are a straightforward and sensible way to keep kids out of trouble – and safe.
