Posted on 05/22/23
| News Source: FOX45
Mayor Brandon Scott’s youth curfew is set to take effect this weekend. However, despite the looming deadline, many of the curfews' details concerning enforcement remain up in the air.
"I think that with something like a youth curfew, it only works if everybody understands it," said Councilman Zeke Cohen.
Cohen is among the many city leaders eager to learn more about the mayor's plans for the city-wide curfew. A measure the mayor announced more than a month ago in response to surging juvenile gun violence.
“I want everyone to hear me and hear me clearly. We are going back to the old days. We will be enforcing a youth curfew as we move into the latter spring and summer months," Scott said back in April after two teenagers were shot while police were attempting to break up a large crowd of juveniles around the city’s Inner Harbor area.
However, since his initial announcement, how exactly the curfew will be enforced has been anything but clear.
Time and time again, the mayor has chosen to keep the specifics a secret.
"Memorial Day is when it will start and Memorial Day is when we will be showing everybody what we are and how we are going to be doing it," Scott said in early May when FOX45 pressed him on when his curfew plan would be released.
Some city leaders argue waiting until Memorial Day doesn’t give them enough time inform their constituents or raise concerns before the plan is put in place.
"You know, you don't want any ambiguity," said Cohen. "I would have loved to have been engaged earlier on in the process."
Cohen sits on the committee now summoning members of Scott’s administration to city hall this Wednesday for a public hearing. The meeting's description is simply, "For the purpose of the committee holding a hearing to discuss Baltimore City's youth curfew."
"Personally, to be honest, I have mixed feelings about reenacting the curfew," Cohen said.
Cohen says he plans to question the effectiveness of the measure and whether or not the Baltimore City Police Department (BPD) has the manpower to execute the controversial tool.
"BPD is strained and so, I question whether having police officers serving to escort children to curfew centers is the best use of our very limited law enforcement capacity," he said.
"I think the number one question they should ask is enforceability," said Political analyst John Dedie.
Dedie is also weighing in with a laundry list of questions he thinks city leaders need to be asking:
All questions Dedie said the mayor’s office may be avoiding on purpose.
"I think the reason there's a lack of information is they really don't have everything all together," said Dedie.
Leaving Baltimore City leaders, parents, and children in the dark as the mayor’s Memorial Day deadline quickly approaches.