Outspoken opponents against the proposed Montgomery County youth curfew raised questions about the curfew’s potential impact on teens and its effectiveness in combating crime at a public hearing July 26. After hearing testimony from 27 individuals, the County Council agreed that revisions to the controversial curfew bill are necessary.

County Executive Ike Leggett presented the bill, drafted by the county police department, to the Council July 12. The proposed curfew would prohibit teenagers from any public place in the county from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m Fridays and Saturdays.

“Leggett does not view this proposed curfew as a panacea but as one more tool with which to address public safety issues,” said Donna Bigler, a Montgomery County public information officer.

Similar youth curfews in D.C. and Prince George’s County can encourage teens from those areas to come to Montgomery County to avoid a curfew, police said. The bill is in response to a July 2 incident involving gangs in downtown Silver Spring, when a 17-year-old girl was stabbed, as well as other recent incidents, police chief Tom Manger said.

“The curfew would be a valuable law enforcement tool, and, given current police intelligence and existence of such law in neighboring jurisdictions, this law would make the county a less attractive place for curfew-displaced youth from other jurisdictions,” Manger said. “It would have a deterrent effect.”

Over 6,000 teens rallied against the proposed law on a Facebook group, “Stand up to the MoCo Youth Curfew.” Members of the group attended the hearing with “Protest the Curfew” stickers on hand, and some testified before the Council.

“A curfew will mark every teen in Montgomery County as suspect simply because of their age,” said Abigail Burman, creator of the Facebook group. “It will fracture the relationship between law enforcement and teenagers.”

The curfew bill states that police could detain minors in violation of the curfew until releasing them into the custody of a parent. The teen would then face community service, while parents who knowingly allow their children to violate curfew would have to attend parenting classes.

“If we impose a curfew, our job as parents just got harder,” parent Cynthia Cathcart said. “The curfew sends the signal that we don’t trust our youth.”

The bill has established exemptions for teens who are accompanied by a parent, attending an official school or religious function, engaging in employment or responding to an emergency.

Still, many feel that if the curfew were to pass, it should also include an entertainment clause similar to that of the Prince George’s county curfew law, which allows for midnight movie premieres and concerts.

An exemption for such would also prevent local businesses from losing late-night profits, delegate Kirill Reznik said.

“Our businesses are trying to recover, and we do not need to put another halt on one more facet of our economic recovery,” Reznik said.

Ultimately, council and community members said they are skeptical about whether a youth curfew would prevent crime. Councilmember Phil Andrews pointed to a recent increase in the number of police officers in Silver Spring as a more effective method.

“I think that the proposal is overly broad; it has not been demonstrated to be effective in other places, and it’s intrusive,” Andrews said. “There are better ways to address the concerns about juvenile crime and gang violence.”

The Council’s public safety committee will hold a session on September 15, when they can request further testimony and propose amendments.

“We’re far from a perfect bill,” council president Valerie Ervin said. “We don’t know where we’re moving yet.”