Citywide youth curfew takes effect in Fayetteville, leaders hopeful it will curb crime

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The City of Fayetteville voted Monday to implement a youth curfew as part of an effort to fight a spike in juvenile crime.

By an 8-2 vote, the City Council approved a pilot program to enforce an 11 p.m. curfew for those younger than 16. Much of the language of the measure was taken from the current ordinance in place for the City of Charlotte.

The curfew took effect immediately.

Mayor Mitch Colvin said last week that a possible curfew would be among the actions the city would take to combat the rise in crime. Colvin added that there will be exceptions to the curfew.

"There are a number of exemptions that say if you're coming from work or school or religious, if you're with your parent, if you're going to and from some government function, that there are exemptions to it," Colvin said. "But for the most part, it says that unattended youth in our community after 11 that needs to be some accountable, some structure around that."

The Charlotte ordinance has a system of warnings, the mayor said. He wants this to be a starting point for the city to find what works.

"In the event your children have an encounter with us, there will be a warning system established, and we will continue to be reasonable with that," Colvin said.

Those who voted against the curfew said it was opening doors for new problems.

"Young people, the most vulnerable in our community, are families who are already struggling to handle their young people," said Councilman Mario Benavente of District 3. "They are being put on a pipeline to the Cumberland County Courthouse, they are being put into a pipeline to the prison. Thanks to Mayor Mitch Colvin."

Some in attendance wished the council had delayed the vote to next week to give residents a chance to speak.

"The way that it was presented was a vote on bringing information back from the city," said Angela Tatum. "They voted against that and went straight to incorporating this. And so what we wanted to hear was, one, not implementing it tonight, but to also making room for that public comment next week."

Sharon Harley added, "You have to put the right policies. You have to see these things in the right view, the right perspective in order to bring about change. Lock in, kids up, punish, and their parents will never do it."

For Colvin, the recent uptick in youth violence was the impetus to take action. Last week, he told ABC11 that the city and law officers were not "babysitters" for young people.

"Any time parents are taking their children out and they have to worry about the threat of gunfire like we had at a carnival not too long ago at the Dogwood Festival, you know, we're going to be able to have a safe community that we have rule and law and order here," Colvin said Monday night.

Do Curfews Work?

The question is, how effective are curfews?

A study conducted by Stanford University found that juvenile curfew laws led to a 23% decrease in deadly injuries between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

There was also an effect on car accidents.

Areas enforcing curfew laws were associated with significantly fewer nighttime crashes.

However, according to Stanford, there was no significant reduction in juvenile crime.

And a major challenge, according to the study, the effectiveness of these laws is often hindered by the lack of proper enforcement.

It's something that Fayetteville Police have brought up several times.

ABC11 Tracking crime and safety across Fayetteville and your neighborhood

ABC11 will continue to follow this subject.

ABC11 photojournalist Chris Hemric contributed.