By Erin Timony, Anais Bernard
Oscar Perez, Trevor Seines and Dylan Rohn
Once a month in City Heights, police sweep the neighborhood in search of underage kids who are in violation of San Diego’s 10 p.m. curfew.
Their efforts have been celebrated by many in the community, who say curfew arrests keep kids out of trouble and connect them to much needed services.
But an analysis by Voice of San Diego suggests the program isn’t as successful as police say. Juvenile crime rates are dropping faster in areas without the sweeps and it’s unclear if the arrests keep kids from violating curfew again.
We’ve been following community reactions to the investigation. Above, youth in the Media Arts Center San Diego’s Teen Producers Project try to gauge what City Heights’ youth think.
Transcript:
I know that, about curfew sweeps that, kids under 18, they are arrested if they are found after ten in—like, any anywhere, doing anything.
I think curfew sweeps are good because it can keep the trouble down, so.
I think just, just tells them something that they shouldn’t do, and it’s better just to stay home than to go out.
To be safe than sorry.
It’s scary to the under eighteen people, like, they kinda help out—keep them out of trouble, and help them be safer. Like, they don’t want to face the consequences.
I think the law is…is alright, but sometimes they go out of hand, like, they take it too far; some officers are, are nice, they’re OK. But other ones are rude, and just have a hard time with you. Me personally, I got swept in the curfew sweeps. They put me in handcuffs, they put me in the back of the car, and then they took me to uh, Cherokee, the [something, possibly says “Metro”] Cherokee, and they had a lot—a bunch of kids right there, like, a lot. My dad came picked me up, and then I had to go to court for, to check my ticket. And then I had to go to some classes ’cause it was my first offense. I was mad because I was in a car, like, I was not walking outside on the street, like, I wasn’t doing—
And you expect if you’re with somebody older they wouldn’t do [incoherent]—
I know. He was twenty-one and the other guys were eighteen and stuff. If you’re going to go out, just don’t stay outside that late, be careful ’cause there’s people, there’s bad people you don’t know, and they could do bad stuff.