According to Baltimore Police, 12 juveniles have been arrested with guns so far in 2023.

Mayor Scott says “These simple, senseless acts of violence in our city have to stop.”

Dr. Tyrone Powers, a former FBI agent, joined Fox45 News to discuss recent juvenile crime and curfew.

“You don’t want to alienate people who aren’t doing anything wrong by patting everybody down. If you bring it back, you have to have extensive training that makes sure you follow the five principles that are required by the US Supreme Court about what you must have, the officer has to have experience, it’s only a pat down to find weapons.” Dr. Powers answered.

Police data from Wednesday said nine juveniles have been shot and killed, and 28 were shot and injured this year. A juvenile is shot almost every three days. Dr. Powers says there’s more to the problem than the police.

“It’s not just policing. There are other issues at play. You have 2,900 police officers who cannot effectively police 600,000 people unless there are other things in place. The numbers don’t add up.” He said.

Mayor Scott said the city-wide summer curfew is set to start on Memorial Day and end on the last Sunday in August. During the summer months, it would ban those under the age of 14 from being outside after 9 p.m. and those 14 to 16 from being outside after 11 p.m.

Dr. Powers believes the curfew may work.

“The curfew may work on a number of levels, you’re not talking about full enforcement, you don’t even have enough officers to do it. But one, it’s a message to parents that there is a curfew, and many parents will enforce that curfew once they know it’s in place. So you’re taking young people who may not have been involved in crime, or even out of harm’s way because parents are aware that there is an issue and a need for the child to be in the house. Secondly, you can activate the intervention and interception mechanisms like a challenge to change, any of those organizations.” Dr. Powers said.

Dr. Powers added, “A curfew is not just about police action and engagement, it can be an opportunity to reduce the likelihood of having young people in harm’s way, increase interventions, and maybe mitigate young people getting shot down with a machine gun.”