WTOP: What can those under 17 years old expect when they are caught out after curfew in Prince George’s County, Maryland?
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said that the first thing officers will do is “educate youth on the curfew and tell them to go home.”
She’s also hoping that parents will take their children inside by 10 p.m. on school nights. The curfew requires those under 17 to be off the streets between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and between 11:59 p.m. and 5 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
There has been criticism about the curfew since it was announced Monday, amid a rise in carjackings and other violent crime. It came as Prince George’s County marked its deadliest month in decades with 24 killings investigated by police in August alone, and a rise in violent crime by repeat offenders, Alsobrooks said during a news conference Monday.
A criminal justice expert weighed in, saying that curfews for the most part have “very little impact, if any, on violent crime.”
Alsobrooks said that she stands in “solidarity” with parents, who have expressed gratitude for the measures the county is taking to protect children and family.
“I am not dealing in theory, I am acting as the leader of this community, and as someone who was the chief law enforcement officer of this County,” Alsobrooks said in a statement.
Even though she said no one wants to see negative interactions between police and youth during the curfew, “Let’s be clear, armed carjacking and armed robbery is not innocent behavior, regardless of the perpetrator’s age.”
She added that Prince Georgians deserve to carry groceries into their homes, walk the streets and pump gas “without fear of being violently assaulted.”
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