City council has grounded the idea of a youth curfew after a report from the city’s crime prevention council Monday night.
The report came after months of research, interviews and studies all pointing to evidence that youth curfews do not deter crime or victimization and in some cases have unintended negative consequences said Thunder Bay crime prevention council co-ordinator Amy Siciliano.
"There’s no reliable or consistent evidence that curfews work," Siciliano told council.
Curfews have also led to negative consequences such as racial profiling, poor youth/police relations and can endanger youth by forcing them to stay at home even though their home life might not be safe Siciliano said.
Police chief Robert Herman agreed.
"If a person youth or otherwise is prone to committing a criminal offense, a city bylaw won’t act as a deterrent" Herman said.
On top of issues outlined by Siciliano such as damaging police/youth relations, which Herman said Thunder Bay Police Service has spent years improving, charter challenges and human rights complaints could also pop up for targeting one segment of the population. Also, because a child breaking the city’s curfew doesn’t necessarily mean other illegal activity is going on, enforcing the curfew wouldn’t be a priority for police Herman said.
"In the absence of some sort of illegal activity," said Herman. "It would probably be one of the last things we would respond to."
The report says the city should instead focus on a youth strategy, including housing, to help its youth. Part of the recommendation agreed to by council says the city should have strategies to keep youth safe in Thunder Bay’s next strategic plan. Siciliano said having somewhere for children to go, such as a 24 hour drop in centre was one of the top priorities of those interviewed in the report.
"I think a safe house wouldn’t just be an emergency shelter but provide skills, food, methods of socialization, counseling, maybe addiction services" Siciliano said.
Coun. Andrew Foulds said the city’s struggling youth need something like that as soon as possible. Foulds said council needs to start coming up with strategies as soon as tomorrow night at a strategic planning meeting.
"I’m a little bit worried about the urgency," Foulds said." I think we need to set a priority we need to come up with solutions."
Mayor Keith Hobbs, who first suggested a curfew for youth under 16, said that he changed his mind on the benefits of a curfew after reading the report.
"Contrary to what some people believe I got quite an education reading this report," Hobbs said.
