Essay On Juvenile Curfew Laws

Juvenile curfew laws have been in effect for centuries. These laws restrict juveniles from being out in public past a certain time of the night. Although each community has a set of laws regarding juvenile curfew, most follow the same guidelines of keeping juveniles off the streets between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Some exceptions to this law may include school or religious related activities that would require juveniles to be out past curfew. The curfew law is supported by many adults who believe it will reduce the crime rate involving juveniles, but it is often frowned upon by juveniles and parents. Law enforcement officials believe that these laws are necessary for decreasing the crime rate and to help prevent victimization against vulnerable juveniles. Three key components in maintaining the curfew law includes juvenile compliance, strong parental involvement, and strict law enforcement participation. All of which are …show more content…
With that being said, police officers feel that curfew laws for juveniles are effective when it comes to decreasing the number of juvenile related crimes. These laws give police officers authority to question suspicious teens out past curfew, provide communities a sense of security, and enforce stricter parental responsibility associated with curfew guidelines. Some parents are concerned that these laws permit unjustified actions of unreasonable search and seizure by police officers. They also state that focusing on juvenile curfew laws occupy too much time, leaving less time for the handling of more serious crimes. Compared to other crime prevention, juvenile curfews are easy to handle and are very effective. Curfews keep the law-abiding juveniles off the streets which only leave the unsupervised juveniles for officers to deal with. These laws also allow police officers to enforce stronger parental control over unsupervised