CrimProf James A. Fox Discusses the Teen Curfew Debate

From northjersey.com: Northeastern University CrimProf James A. Fox discusses the debate of teen curfews in the United States.

Juvenile curfews are intended to address two sides of the same coin: By keeping teenagers off the streets at night, they seek to prevent them from becoming either criminals or victims. As a political issue, few subjects raise more passionate responses than those that deal with the welfare of kids, and curfews are no exception.

James Fox, a professor at Northeastern University who studies crime, said that curfews actually may increase crime, since they represent an inefficient use of police officers' time. He favors after-school programs instead.

"It's one of those 'sounds good' ideas," he said. "We can all agree that kids have very little reason to be outdoors at 1 or 2 in the morning. But using curfews as a crime-control measure doesn't really do anything to control crime." Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]