Austin votes to end its youth curfew amid racial bias concerns
Source: The Guardian
• Texas city becomes second largest in country to drop nighttime ban
• Police chief changes his mind after reviewing data
Austin’s council has voted to end the city’s youth curfew amid concerns that it targets racial minorities and adds to the so-called school-to-prison pipeline.
Despite backing the law earlier this year, Brian Manley, police chief in the liberal Texas city, changed his mind after reviewing data. “My recommendation is to not move forward with the curfew at this point,” Manley told the city council early on Friday.
Manley said that in 14 stops by police of young people in the past three months that involved a curfew infraction, the curfew was not the reason for the initial interaction. “The ordinance did not have any impact on our ability to handle those instances,” he said.
The council also heard from several students who argued the curfew needlessly criminalised young people and unfairly affected minorities, and voted not to renew it when it expires on 1 October.
Austin’s curfew was introduced in 1990 in an attempt to reduce the juvenile crime rate. It applied both at night and during school days. In June, the council ended the daytime restriction but extended the nighttime curfew until October, with a new “three-strikes” citation policy. It banned under-17s from being outside from 11pm to 6am, with some exceptions – such as being accompanied by a parent or being in front of their house.
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Tom Dart in Houston
Friday 29 September 2017 14.19 BST
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/29/austin-end-youth-curfew-racial-bias
= new reply since forum marked as read
in the larger cities you have selective enforcement - i.e., it tends to get enforced on minorities, who then get a "record" (black mark), whereas white children tend to get a "warning" (and no notation of the offense).
Teens are hard to deal with and over the decades, so many efforts were made to "solve" the problem by creating activities and community centers for teens to use in the evenings. But by the time they try some suggestions, the "teens" who were initially targeted have grown up and the group behind them doesn't respond the same way to the types of activities offered, so society starts all over again with the process.
I grew up with a "curfew" to get back home by the time the street lights came on (which meant around 8:30 pm in the summer and much earlier during the school year obviously).... And I grew up with the fear of "truant officers" if we were caught out in public during the school day unless with a parent. That "fear" of "playing hooky" went all the way through my work career (say if I had called in sick), and I am finally shaking that off since I can be out any damn time I please now that I am retired! 
