Studies find teen curfews reduce crime—or not

By COURTNEY CULEY
Capital News Service
LANSING—When Lake County had a problem with mischievous youth, the police department stepped up curfew enforcement for those under 16 and it paid off. The number of youth crimes decreased, Lake County Sheriff Robert Hilts said. Similar effects have been reported elsewhere. After curfew laws are put in place, youth arrests drop 10 percent in that area, according to a recent study done by the University of California, Berkeley. The study researched 54 U.S. cities with 180,000 or more residents.