Curfews treat all youth as violators. It turns off good kids and is unfair to them. They said that a curfew compels parents to be more responsible and gives them a specific reason to tell their children they cannot be out after a certain time, and they said that curfews are a good prevention tool, keeping the good kids good and keeping the at-risk kids from becoming victims or victimizers. Prevention is nine-tenths of the cure. Because of the curfew there is less gathering.
Less gathering means fewer calls for police.
Nineteen cities said that a nighttime curfew was not a useful tool, explaining that it removes parental control as the city, in effect, becomes the parent. They also commented that more crime happens during non-curfew hours due to curfew enforcement. All youth, not just delinquents, are affected by a curfew. We need to avoid harassment and need to avoid focussing on minorities or specific neighborhoods. All of the 72 cities which have a daytime curfew report that it has cut down on truancy.