(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Less than two weeks after a Philadelphia police officer was ambushed, shot in the head and left in critical condition, the city of Brotherly Love under siege is looking to rejuvenate a curfew to help curb a spree of deadly violence and soaring property crimes.
Crime has gotten so bad in the Philadelphia area, Wawa has been forced to close nine of its stores at night. pic.twitter.com/ZjHuWp4XBM
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 24, 2022
The Philadelphia City Council voted last week to impose a permanent 10 p.m. curfew for people under the age of 18. A curfew was already in place, but it had expired at the end of September, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The city’s rampant crime didn’t expire with the summer’s curfew, and the new one, if approved by Democrat Mayor Jim Kenney, would have no expiration date.
If the new curfew goes into effect, it would require teenagers 14 to 17 to be home by 10 p.m., and children ages 13 and younger to be home by 9:30. The curfew would end at 6 a.m. Police who pick up violators must first try to take them home, or to one of the city’s community evening resource centers.
Backers of the curfew claim it acts as a deterrent because most crime is committed in late-night hours under cover of dark. But data shows the effectiveness of curfews, both in Philadelphia and other cities nationwide, has been minimal at best and completely useless at worst.
While Philly’s 10 p.m. curfew was enforced over the summer, more children were shot than during any other summer on record.
“Data show that, since 2015, just over a quarter of juvenile shooting victims were struck in the overnight hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.,” the Inquirer reported. “The vast majority were injured in the hours before curfew.”
Concerns have also been raised that a curfew would put additional strain on an already short-staffed police force, while trying to limit non-essential encounters between police and residents.
“It builds animosity between police and the community,” Philadelphia councilmember David Oh said.
Current and former law enforcement officials agreed.
“I applaud the effort but it will do absolutely nothing to stop the violence and just put cops in more situations where they can be scrutinized,” tweeted retired Sgt. Mark Fu, who served in Philly PD’s warrant unit.
The proposed permanent curfew is doomed to fail, critics contend, as long as there are no repercussions or punishment for criminals, which has long been the case under far-leftist, so-called criminal justice reformer District Attorney Larry Krasner. The DA’s office has seen the percentage of “all offenses” resulting in a dismissal or withdrawal spike to a record high 65% under his watch.
When Republicans filed to impeach Krasner last month for “negligence of duty” and “misbehavior in office,” they noted that Philadelphia has been plagued with record high homicides, as well as more than 1,000 carjackings since the beginning of the year.
The crime crisis was created by Krasner’s efforts to “focus on issues that promote” his “progressive philosophies rather than how to effectively prosecute a criminal case,” the state’s House Republicans said in their impeachment filing.
