Rochester Curfew Will Continue Despite Unsatisfying Results
Michelle Miller
Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: News
The idea of enforcing a city youth curfew in Utica is a current topic in the news, and the impact and success of other city curfews could have a profound effect on whether or not one is eventually enacted. In fact, according to Councilman James Zecca, D-2, he is watching Rochester's city youth curfew progress very closely.
On January 16, the New York Civil Liberties Union urged the Rochester City Council not to renew or extend the city's youth curfew, calling the measure both unlawful and ineffective. However, the council voted to extend the curfew until September 2007 with an 8-1 vote.
The NYCLU charged that the curfew, which prohibits youth from being present in public places after designated hours, is poor public policy that unfairly impacts youth of color and wastes precious city resources.
At the Rochester City Council meeting Barbara de Leeuw, director of the Genesee Valley Chapter NYCLU, asked council members not to approve Mayor Robert Duffy's request that this law be renewed.
The recently released "City Curfew Pilot Report" determined that the curfew has not been effective in its goal of reducing youth crime in Rochester. Worse, the curfew has also led to racial profiling of poor youth of color, who have been stopped by police without reasonable suspicion of having committed a crime.
The National Youth Rights Association, a youth-led national non-profit organization dedicated to fighting for the civil rights and liberties of young people based in Rockville Md., concur that youth curfew laws do little to reduce crime.
"They merely mask the problem and make the public think something is being done about a crime problem," said board member Katrina Moncure. "The fact is, if someone is going to commit a horrible crime, why would he or she worry about obeying a curfew?"
The Rochester curfew also raises concerns about privacy rights, the NYCLU charged.
"What happens to the personal information gathered by police when a youth is stopped or detained for curfew violation?" de Leeuw said. "Who has access to this data? For what purpose? How long is the information retained?"
On January 16, the New York Civil Liberties Union urged the Rochester City Council not to renew or extend the city's youth curfew, calling the measure both unlawful and ineffective. However, the council voted to extend the curfew until September 2007 with an 8-1 vote.
The NYCLU charged that the curfew, which prohibits youth from being present in public places after designated hours, is poor public policy that unfairly impacts youth of color and wastes precious city resources.
At the Rochester City Council meeting Barbara de Leeuw, director of the Genesee Valley Chapter NYCLU, asked council members not to approve Mayor Robert Duffy's request that this law be renewed.
The recently released "City Curfew Pilot Report" determined that the curfew has not been effective in its goal of reducing youth crime in Rochester. Worse, the curfew has also led to racial profiling of poor youth of color, who have been stopped by police without reasonable suspicion of having committed a crime.
The National Youth Rights Association, a youth-led national non-profit organization dedicated to fighting for the civil rights and liberties of young people based in Rockville Md., concur that youth curfew laws do little to reduce crime.
"They merely mask the problem and make the public think something is being done about a crime problem," said board member Katrina Moncure. "The fact is, if someone is going to commit a horrible crime, why would he or she worry about obeying a curfew?"
The Rochester curfew also raises concerns about privacy rights, the NYCLU charged.
"What happens to the personal information gathered by police when a youth is stopped or detained for curfew violation?" de Leeuw said. "Who has access to this data? For what purpose? How long is the information retained?"
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